Jeremy Alford: Crime becomes defining campaign issue

Crime tops the list of public concerns in the Bayou State right now, according to a new survey underwritten by the Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs at LSU.
 Louisiana also has one of the worst violent crime rates in the entire country, based on just about any survey or report you want to pull.

Then you have Attorney General Jeff Landry, who’s more than two dozen points ahead of his fellow Republicans in most gubernatorial polling. A large part of his brand is tied up in being the state’s top law enforcement official.

That’s all to say crime will be an unmissable theme in this year’s open race for governor. Not only do voters care about the issue, but candidates won’t stop talking about it.

During a recent interview with www.LaPoliticsWeekly.com, John M. Couvillon, president of JMC Analytics and Polling, was asked about issues that could ultimately define the race for governor. When commenting on the likelihood of crime being in the mix, Couvillon assigned a single word: “Definitely.”

Crime, after all, was the target of Landry’s first television commercials this cycle. The unique series of ads were customized by region to take to task local law enforcement officials, like district attorneys. (The spot that ran in New Orleans was especially pointed.)

“When DAs fail to prosecute, when judges fail to act, when police are handcuffed instead of the criminals, enough is enough,” Landry says in the spot. “We’re going to hold everyone — and I mean everyone — accountable for violent crime.”

A few weeks later, Reboot Louisiana PAC attempted to flip the script on Landry with its first spots on television and radio. The super PAC is backing former Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President Stephen Waguespack.

The Reboot commercial claims Landry “failed us” as Louisiana’s top law enforcement official. A female narrator also hurls this accusation at the attorney general: “Murder.. Rape… Carjackings… Under Landry’s watch, Louisiana is now the most dangerous state in America.” 
 
A Landry spokesperson declined an offer to comment on the ad spots, but U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise has called on Waguespack to ask for the ads to be pulled down. Waguespack, who cannot legally coordinate with the super PAC on media buys, declined to comment through a spokesperson. 
 
Landry, however, did manage his own reply — with a pre-planned announcement of eight endorsements from sheriffs and district attorneys. 
 
“Jeff understands what it takes to keep our communities safe,” said District Attorney Bo Duhe of the 16th Judicial District in Acadiana, “and he is someone we can count on to be the law-and-order governor of Louisiana.”
 
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams, meanwhile, told reporters last week he’s being encouraged to run for governor, but isn’t really interested in the job. Williams added he doesn’t want to be “in a contest with a candidate who is publicly working harder to ban more books than high-powered assault weapons has some appeal.”
 
That comment, of course, was a dig at Landry, and that was the point Williams was probably trying to make with this political exercise — that he does not and will not support Landry, who the district attorney claims is using New Orleans as a “pawn in his self-serving aspirations.”
 
Crime has not only invaded the political rhetoric of this race, but it’s polling stronger than ever when it comes to concerns of Louisiana residents. Just take a look at the Reilly Center’s latest Louisiana Survey, where “crime surged to the top of state residents’ concerns, named by about one-fifth of respondents, or 19 percent.” 
 In most years, only about 6 percent to 10 percent of survey respondents named crime.

 “Over most of the past two decades,” according to the Louisiana Survey, “the economy and education have regularly topped the list of the public’s priorities, although other issues have reached the top on occasion — including rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina in 2006, the budget in 2016, and Covid-19 in 2021.”

 Crime as a political issue also cannot be defined by region.

 For example, state Rep. Jean-Paul Coussan, who represents a south Louisiana district anchored by Lafayette, said prior to the start of the regular session that “violent crime is first and foremost in our constituents’ minds.”

 State Sen. Jay Morris, who serves in a north Louisiana district in the Monroe area, offered a similar read when asked which issues mattered most for this year’s session. “Crime has become a serious problem in our state,” said Morris.

“Anything we do with respect to economic development, creating jobs and attracting industry is all for naught if we don’t have a safe and secure state in which to live and work.”

 We’re going to hear quite a bit about crime during the second half of 2023. But how those words are eventually translated into actions will be what matters most.

For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @ LaPoliticsNow.