Republican Liz Murrill won Saturday’s race for Louisiana attorney general, giving the state its first woman in that office and handing Republicans total control over state government.
Murrill, a top deputy to current attorney general and Gov.-elect Jeff Landry, locked in her victory early on election night. She defeated trial lawyer and Democrat Lindsey Cheek, a political newcomer who ran on a platform of cracking down on pollution, protecting consumers and expanding abortion access.
By 10 p.m., she had secured over 440,000 votes to Cheek's roughly 220,000, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
With victories by Republicans in the races for secretary of state and treasurer, the GOP secured a monopoly on Louisiana statewide offices for the first time since 2015. Murrill will join a cohort of newly elected Republicans who will look to form a unified front and move the state’s policies to the political right after their inauguration in January.
Republican attorney general candidate Liz Murrill thanks her supporters after securing her win during an election party at Hilton Baton Rouge on Saturday, November 18, 2023. Murrill is Louisiana’s first woman attorney general.
“I’m standing before you as the first woman to ever serve in Louisiana as our attorney general," Murrill told a crowd who gathered at a Baton Rouge hotel for her election night party.
The audience — which included Republican lawmakers, political operatives and Murrill's family and friends — erupted into cheers.
“The people of Louisiana, the people I’ve just thanked and many others who are too numerous to name have brought us to this moment," Murrill continued. "God has a plan for each one of us, bringing people into our lives at the right time and helping us to achieve our purpose. I think this is mine."
The attorney general's race made history weeks before the votes were counted as either Murrill or Cheek would have been the first woman to serve in the role.
Murrill ran a formidable campaign from start to finish, raking in big donations and securing the backing of the Republican Attorneys General Association, which shelled out at least $1.8 million on her behalf. Some political analysts called her campaign an extension of Landry's gubernatorial effort because of the pair's work together and the fact they shared some staff and donors. Murrill has called that description sexist.
Liz Murrill and her husband, John P. Murrill, make their entrance to an election party at Hilton Baton Rouge on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
Her years of experience inside the Attorney General’s Office allowed Murrill to speak with authority on the campaign trail about the agency's inner workings.
Murrill is both a seasoned litigator and a staunch conservative who has crafted arguments behind some of Landry’s highest-profile legal fights including lawsuits over abortion, COVID-19 vaccines and flood insurance rates.
She’s a member of the Federalist Society, a legal group that aligns itself with conservative priorities, particularly the drive to overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade. She pledges to fight overreach by the federal government, defend Louisiana’s strict abortion ban and crack down on crime by beefing up the attorney general’s criminal bureau.
Her campaign contrasted sharply with Cheek's. The New Orleans-based trial attorney had staked out one of the most progressive platforms of the election cycle. Cheek did not immediately return a message Saturday evening.
Lindsey Cheek, a New Orleans-based attorney, is running for attorney general as a Democrat.
Murrill had endorsements of the Louisiana Republican Party, the Republican Attorney’s General Association, former President Donald Trump, both of Louisiana’s GOP U.S. senators and a slate of local Republican groups.
Besides the wins by Republicans in the statewide races, the GOP was also poised to reclaim its legislative supermajorities in both the Louisiana House and Senate.
Turnout in the runoff was projected by the Secretary of State's Office to fall below 20% — partly because the governor's race was already decided in October when Landry claimed a surprise outright victory in the primary. John Couvillon, a Baton Rouge-based pollster who generally works with Republican clients, projected a slightly higher turnout of 25%.
Liz Murrill at her election party at Hilton Baton Rouge on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
With Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards leaving office, Republican priorities will face an easier path to becoming law under Landry.
The governor-elect congratulated Murrill Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Murrill thanked him from the stage of her election night celebration for his support.
“Jeff has given me more opportunities than anyone I’ve worked for in my entire career. ... He trusted me to do some things that were risky for a politician, like arguing cases... that we might not win," she said.
