Republican state Attorney General Jeff Landry has decided he isn’t going to appear with any of the other candidates for governor at forums or other events. His motive is crystal clear — he doesn’t want to become another victim like former GOP U.S. Sen. David Vitter became in 2015.

The Associated Press summed up how Vitter became the victim when it reported on the results of the Oct. 24, 2015, primary.

“Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter survived challenges Saturday from two GOP rivals who called his years-old prostitution scandal a stain on Louisiana, reaching a runoff against Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards in the governor’s race,” The AP said.

If there hadn’t been two other Republicans in the race, Vitter may not have made the runoff. He polled 23% of the vote. Republicans Scott Angelle and Jay Dardenne, who took shots at Vitter at every opportunity, had 19% and 15%, respectively, or a total of 34%.

The Nov. 21, 2015, runoff wasn’t even close. Edwards defeated Vitter 56%-44%.

The AP said Edwards won the runoff election for Louisiana governor, defeating Vitter, the once-heavy favorite, and handing the Democrats their first statewide victory since 2008.

You will notice the news agency said Edwards won by “defeating the once-heavy favorite.”

Landry occupies that “once-heavy favorite” position. The Advocate said he is “employing the risk-averse strategy adopted by many campaign front-runners. He is leading in the polls, has raised the most money and counts on the support of former President Donald Trump and the state Republican Party.”

Two event organizers told the newspaper the Landry campaign is even telling forum planners that, if they want him to show up, they must ensure that he speaks alone.

Landry in a statement said, “No candidates have officially qualified to run for governor yet. We look forward to debating after candidate qualification. That takes place Aug. 8-10 and only time will tell whether Landry will have the courage to show up after that.

Three other Republican candidates took Landry to task, according to The Advocate. They are state Treasurer John Schroder, state Rep. Richard Nelson of Mandeville, and Stephen Waguespack, former president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry.

Nelson said if candidates want to be governor, they shouldn’t be afraid to be on the stage with their competitors. Waguespack and Schroder pretty much agreed that refusing to participate does a disservice to voters who deserve to hear from all the candidates.

OK, so Landry doesn’t want to face his competitors. However, he can’t escape others who have talked about the race.

John Singleton, a self-described moderate from Baton Rouge, in a letter to The Advocate said, “… The far right is clearly out of control, yet they love to speak of liberty and freedom. It seems that they’re all for others having liberty and freedom — that is, as long as it’s what they consider liberty and freedom.”

Singleton concluded, “The silent majority in this country needs to wake up and see we’re being squeezed from both extremes, and if we don’t speak up, we’ll end up with a governor like Jeff Landry.”

Clancy DuBos, the politics editor, and columnist for Gambit in New Orleans, in a column in The Advocate said Landry attacks the state’s crime problem, but as Louisiana’s top prosecutor for eight years “he clearly hasn’t done his job well if crime remains out of control.”

On the crime issue, Landry also came under fire from DuBos for attacking the mayor of New Orleans and the district attorneys of Caddo and New Orleans, who are all Black, but not the district attorney of East Baton Rouge who is White.

When Waguespack was considering a run for governor, a March Louisiana Illuminator story was headlined, “’Anybody but Jeff’ Republicans may have found a candidate for Louisiana governor.”

The story said, “Business leaders and state lawmakers privately complain about Landry’s temperament – the attorney general has a reputation for bullying people who disagree with him and starting feuds with other elected officials.
“They also say he’s too focused on divisive social issues – such as what books are available in libraries – to the detriment of tackling the state’s more significant challenges, like low literacy rates and economic development.”

Hunter Lundy, an independent candidate, at the Farm Bureau forum said of Landry, “He doesn’t do his day job either, much less come to the forums we’re having.”

Landry may not want to sit on the same stage with his gubernatorial opponents, but he can’t escape his other critics.