Gov. Jeff Landry: New Orleans is no longer as important to Louisiana as it once was • Louisiana Illuminator
Amid an ongoing power struggle between state Republicans and New Orleans Democrats, Gov. Jeff Landry said New Orleans is no longer as important to Louisiana’s economic success as it has been in the past.
“Used to be, the saying was, ‘Where goes New Orleans, where goes the state.’ Let me tell you what happened today. That has changed, ” Landry said Monday after a press conference announcing the expansion of an enormous Meta data center project in northeast Louisiana.
“Where goes Louisiana will determine the fate of New Orleans, okay?” the GOP governor said.
Landry’s remarks about New Orleans – the largest Democratic stronghold in Republican Louisiana – come after almost two weeks of feuding between the city’s leaders, the governor and Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill, Landry’s closest political ally.
A New Orleans grand jury indicted Murrill shortly before the July 4 holiday over allegations of malfeasance in office and intimidation of New Orleans elected officials.
32 replies
So Louisiana will have a business that’s not in New Orleans (and not a refinery)? Employing dozens?
Yep, A $50B dollar investment incentivized by state tax breaks and no actual job requirements, that will steal our data, pollute land further, drain natural resources and hire
::drumroll:: Dozens of people 🎉
And it is requiring several more industrial plants be built in some of the hardest hit parts of cancer alley to provide the data centers with the resources it will need.
In a state that's somehow 6th highest in the country in terms of GDP growth but dead last in health and economic social benefits.
Pretty Sure New Orleans is the only reason Louisiana still exists...
No. Louisiana resident here, N.O. Is a shithole and will be washed away sooner rather than later.
w/o New Orleans Louisiana is just a second-rate Mississippi.
Mississippi is licking their chops at the prospect of finally not being the state the rest of the south uses to point out “we ain’t THAT bad”.
It is that with or without it! New Orleans smells like piss and shit and if you walk in the French quarter you are quite literally walking in piss and vomit. 🤮
It's still the only place in the entire state without fascists in charge.
Blue cities are were fascists dump all their shit therefore anyone who sees these places shithole, we can assume is a tool for fascists.
I'm not saying it isn't, but it's the only thing that keep money flowing in to the state... There is literally nothing else worth spending money on there.
Well, if you ever want authentic Cajun food, that’s NOT located in New Orleans…that’s in Lafayette.
Cajun food is good as long as you don't ask too many questions about what's in the pot. ;-)
Very true! Lol
I remember eating at some little hole in the wall at the foot of the Ponchatrain levy ordered some gumbo...and while we're waiting I hear some lady in the back banging on what sounded like a pot lid yelling (in a distinctly creole accent) "Get back in there!"
pretty sure the fresh lobster was trying to escape...
Food was amazing though. ;-)
He believes the new Digital Cancer alley he's creating via a $50B Meta Data center means no longer having to rely on New Orleans. Not an unreasonable scheme.
But the success vs becoming a $50B hole in the ground seems to depend in large part on the ability to provide better data for better AI training and then sell that data to other corporations who then sell those products to the public.
Which depends on being able to continue to further exploit people and communities (such as New Orleans) in the form of harvesting data for the data center to sell.
So if people in communities (such as New Orleans or anywhere in LA) were to say, idk "fuck you pay me" instead of allowing their data to be exploited, it could create quite a pickle in terms of the state no longer needing to depend on money generated by New Orleans for its own economic success...
There is a large petrochem refining and oil and gas business base here. New Orleans certainly survives on tourism but the rest of the state does not.
Sure let the city keep all their money and see how the rest of the state does.
I spent about 6 months in New Orleans about 20 years ago... Out at Mischoud as part of a datacenter build-out... 3 months before Katrina hit. Talk about flushing a lot of hard work away...datacenters don't do well when they're under 3' of water..
They rebuilt in Philidelphia. ;-)
He's saying the parts of Louisiana you drive through as fast as possible are about to fuck over New Orleans some more.
Louisiana has abandoned New Orleans since Katrina.
🙄 omg the audacity of Cajun Yosemite sam and his little man syndrome
Damn, I'm sure he doesn't see it this way but that's some genuine class which kinda translates into low key shade.
Money talks bullshit walks. So get to stepping bb Huey
Wasn't huey long the beloved nearly left wing leader from Louisiana?
He was a populist but hated by most of Louisiana for authoritarian strong arming.
He had a vendetta against New Orleans in particular, and actually had the idea to try and take over a city run by his political enemies by deploying the national guard, a little under a century before Trump and Landry came up with the same idea.
https://www.nola.com/news/politics/the-1934-standoff-between-huey-long-new-orleans-in-never-before-seen-photos/article_38f76c80-3c6a-5759-abd5-f8480262749f.html
And he is the only person to ever hold the office of both governor and senator, which some people have suggested is also the reason Landry (and Trump) have such a strong interest in making sure Landry's candidate wins the Louisiana Senate seat this fall.
Her main Republican opponent said he believed Landry's plan is to have her step down as soon as she's elected
https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2025/05/13/louisiana-treasurer-accuses-governor-jeff-landry-of-senate-election-scheme-involving-julia-letlow/83598273007/
How is that even legal
Bold of you to assume that MAGA, especially Louisiana MAGA, gives a shit about legality.
I know that they don't
I mean "Louisiana legal" has always enjoyed a rich tapestry of loose interpretations.
Like they still haven't done anything to actually undo any of the harm caused by directing dangerous factories to come to the state and build cancer alley on top of communities.
Even as people are well aware it was discriminatory and unconstitutional, and residents are continuing to try to fight the machine of corporate greed and local corruption, not only do they plan to continue the same bullshit, they also want to roll out a new and expanded version for the digital age. Because progress.
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-shocking-hazards-of-louisianas-cancer-alley
https://ccrjustice.org/home/press-center/press-releases/victory-black-residents-cancer-alley-court-rules-landmark-lawsuit
He also wanted to limit wealth to 50 million and to provide ubi to the population. He definitely did almost accomplish it by bring a dictator. Still pretty cool
Seems to be a common refrain from conservatives and their party when it comes to areas with all the PEOPLE in it: the places with a smattering of people spread over vast empty spaces should be calling the shots!!!1111
I always wonder what would happen if a major metro decided to secede from its state. Not from the country, just from the state. Like if Atlanta was just "We're not part of Georgia anymore."
The national guard doesnt have a mission to defend defecting cities. The state has a military. The city has a police force. Whatever stuff is happening in a defecting city would be met with violent demands ofc. Depending on the president, the national guard gets nationalized. The governor declares a state of emergency obv. Troops flow in via the highway system that leads directly to the city. As Hitler and Eisenhower envisioned government response to civil disobedience.
It's not really seceding but a lot of blue cities in red states have had to consider legal action against overbearing state authority trying to encroach on local government in recent years
Nashville has actually had to do something similar a few times now
https://fox17.com/news/local/2024-nashville-tennessee-metro-wins-lawsuit-against-governor-lee-challenging-council-size-state-davidson-county-middle-tn
https://tennesseelookout.com/2026/06/10/metro-sues-state-again-to-block-airport-board-takeover/
https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-politics/lawsuits-mounting-against-tn-taxpayers-footing-the-bill/
So since the state can't just stay out of their business, Nashville keeps suing the state, and state tax payers keep having to pay for it.