The Turkey Hunt Governor: When Pettiness Trumps Principles

How Jeff Landry's vindictive vetoes revealed a governor who values trial lawyer cash over conservative principles.

Sixteen Republican legislators had district projects axed by Governor Jeff Landry's veto pen. Sixteen. Not Democrats who opposed him on philosophical grounds. Not liberals trying to undermine his agenda. Republicans. His own people. Legislators who were elected by the same conservative voters who trusted Jeff Landry to be their champion.

And what was their crime? They dared to disagree with him on House Bill 148—a piece of legislation so fundamentally wrongheaded that even Louisiana's Republican Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple, the guy who would actually get the new powers, said he didn't want them.

Again: The insurance commissioner himself looked at this bill and said, "No, thank you, I don't want this authority because it's bad policy." But Jeff Landry knew better, right? Landry, who spent the weeks before the legislative session turkey hunting in Texas with Gordon McKernan and other trial lawyers, somehow had a better grasp on insurance policy than the guy whose actual job it is to regulate insurance.

The Pettiness Is the Point

What got vetoed? A $4.2 million highway extension to make it safer for kids going to Parkway High School in Bossier City? Gone, because Senator Alan Seabaugh had the audacity to question Landry's insurance bill. Tennis courts for high schoolers in Livingston Parish? Axed. A bridge repair at Lafraniere Park in Metairie? Nope, can't have that because John Illg voted his conscience.

These aren't frivolous projects. These are real improvements that would help real families in real communities. But Jeff Landry decided that punishing Republicans who disagreed with him was more important than improving infrastructure for Louisiana families.

The vindictiveness was so complete that Landry even vetoed projects in his own home parish. St. Martin Parish, where the governor is from, lost $10.2 million for extending Mills Avenue in Breaux Bridge. Why? Because Senator Blake Miguez had the backbone to vote against bad policy, even when it came from his own party's governor.

Jason Briggs, the mayor of Hall Summit, said he was told the veto of his town's $30,000 park project was "due to politics with Alan Seabaugh." A small-town mayor, trying to get playground equipment for kids, was caught in the crossfire of a governor's temper tantrum.

The Billion-Dollar Turkey Hunt

But here's what really tells you everything you need to know about Jeff Landry's priorities: that turkey hunt in Texas. While Louisiana families are getting crushed by the highest auto insurance rates in the nation, our governor was off playing buddy-buddy with Gordon McKernan—the same trial lawyer whose billboards dominate our highways and whose firm has pulled in over three billion dollars in settlements.

McKernan didn't just host this little getaway out of the goodness of his heart. His law firm contributed $15,000 to Landry's campaign, and he gave $100,000 to the Louisiana Republican Party. And what did he get for his investment? A governor who would ram through legislation that gives arbitrary power to reject insurance rates, power that could easily be weaponized to keep rates artificially low for political gain.

Which sounds great until you realize it'll drive insurance companies out of Louisiana entirely.

This is the same Gordon McKernan who told reporters he started contributing to politicians because he opposed "repeated calls by the insurance industry to reform things that make their side of the table more profitable." In other words, he's buying political influence to protect his billion-dollar lawsuit business, and Jeff Landry is his willing partner.

The optics are staggering. McKernan flew House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, Senate President Cameron Henry, and three committee chairpersons to Texas on his firm's private jet for three days of "hunting and policy discussions." Landry's political organization, Protect Louisiana Values, paid for their stay at the exclusive hunting resort.

The Policy Disaster: How Act 11 Breaks Everything

The actual policy that caused all this vindictive retaliation? House Bill 148, now Act 11.

This law fundamentally breaks Louisiana's insurance market by giving the insurance commissioner unprecedented power to reject rate increases without having to justify those decisions with data.

Under the previous system, insurance companies could only have their rates rejected if Louisiana was declared a "noncompetitive market,” a designation that required actual evidence and public hearings. Act 11 throws that out the window. Now the commissioner can reject any rate increase he thinks is "excessive," and there's no requirement that he base that decision on actuarial science, market conditions, or anything resembling objective criteria.

Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple warned lawmakers that this gives him "unfettered power to deny any rate based on only the subjective belief that it is too high." He said it makes Louisiana "more heavily regulated than California," and if Temple is saying we're out-regulating California, we've got a serious problem.

The Insurance Council of Louisiana pointed out that this law makes Louisiana an "outlier" compared to every other state. It allows the commissioner to retroactively declare previously approved rates excessive and force companies to issue refunds with no time limit. It forces insurers to disclose confidential business information before they can even appeal a decision.

The Real-World Impact on Your Family

Here's what this means for Louisiana families: insurance companies are going to look at Louisiana's new regulatory environment and decide it's not worth the risk. Why would State Farm or Allstate invest in a state where the insurance commissioner can arbitrarily reject their rates for political reasons?

We're already seeing this happen. Nationwide refuses to write auto insurance in Louisiana specifically because of what they call our "historically challenging legal environment." Now we've made that environment even more hostile to insurance companies.

Meanwhile, trial lawyers like Gordon McKernan are celebrating because they know that an unstable insurance market means more lawsuits, more settlements, and more billboards. When insurance companies can't price their policies properly because of arbitrary government interference, they settle claims faster and for higher amounts just to avoid the regulatory uncertainty.

Louisiana already has litigation rates that are twice the national average and the second-highest auto insurance premiums in the country. Act 11 doesn't address any of the underlying problems driving these costs—it just gives political control over pricing to a single appointee and hopes that somehow magically makes insurance cheaper.

The Conservative Betrayal That Matters

Here's what really burns about this whole situation: Jeff Landry campaigned as a conservative. He told voters he would stand up to special interests and fight for Louisiana families. Instead, he's governing like a petty dictator who punishes anyone who disagrees with him while cozying up to the very trial lawyers who've been bleeding our state dry for decades.

Those Republican legislators who voted against HB 148? They were doing their jobs. They were listening to their constituents, looking at the data, and making principled decisions based on what would actually help Louisiana families deal with our insurance crisis.

Senator Alan Seabaugh, who lost four projects worth over $4 million, put it perfectly when he said Landry was "bullying legislators" while traveling on "billboard lawyers' private planes." Former Republican legislator Robert Adley called the targeted vetoes "vindictiveness" and compared them to "Huey Long stuff." Which is exactly right.

Landry is governing like a Louisiana political boss, demanding absolute loyalty and punishing independence. The sixteen Republicans who lost their projects didn't lose them because they voted against Louisiana families. They lost them because they had the courage to stand up to a governor who was wrong.

The Path Forward: Scrap Act 11

So what do we do about this? First, the legislature needs to scrap Act 11 entirely. This law is going to make Louisiana's insurance crisis worse, not better, and every day it stays on the books is another day insurance companies are looking for the exits.

Second, Louisiana voters need to remember this moment. Jeff Landry showed us exactly who he is when he chose trial lawyers who have supported the Democrats for years over his own political side and pettiness over policy. He showed us that he values Gordon McKernan's campaign contributions more than the safety improvements that got vetoed in Bossier City and Livingston Parish.

Third, we need to start having an honest conversation about Louisiana's real insurance problems. We have the second-highest auto insurance rates in the nation because we have a legal environment that makes it easy to file frivolous lawsuits and expensive to defend against them. We need real tort reform, not arbitrary government price controls.

A Governor's True Colors

Landry had a choice this year between standing with conservative principles or standing with trial lawyers. He chose the trial lawyers. He had a choice between a policy that would actually address Louisiana's insurance crisis or a policy that would make it worse. He chose to make it worse. He had a choice between governing like a statesman or governing like a petty tyrant. We see which way that went.

The turkey hunt governor has shown us his true colors, and they're not conservative red—they're trial lawyer green. Every family in Louisiana is going to pay the price for Jeff Landry's vindictive pettiness in higher insurance rates, fewer insurance options, and a regulatory environment that drives business out of our state.

It's time Louisiana voters took note, and it's time our legislature fixed the mess he's made of our insurance laws before it's too late.