BATON ROUGE — Former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Wednesday he has no plans to return to politics, though he wouldn’t rule it out entirely.
Edwards, a Democrat, said there has been a lot of push this year for him to run for U.S. Senate. But he said he was enjoying the freedom to live with his wife and become a private citizen.
“I’m not interested in Congress now and probably never will be, but I’m not going to say I’ll never run for office again,” Edwards said.
Democrats hope Edwards will run against Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy this year. While he has not commented on running for governor again, most political analysts believe he is the only Democrat likely to unseat Republican Gov. Jeff Landry in 2027.
Edwards made the remarks during a pizza lunch with LSU students on Wednesday.
Former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards speaks at the Press Building on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The lunch was one of a series hosted by the Riley Center for Media and Public Affairs in the Manship School of Mass Communication. These events enable students and faculty to engage in discussions with public officials and civic leaders.
Edwards, who served as Louisiana governor from 2016 to 2024, was invited to share insights on achieving policy outcomes through coalition building and effective communication.
He attributes his political leanings to his family legacy, particularly his father’s role as parish sergeant. He recounts his journey from West Point to Louisiana State University School of Law and eight years in the U.S. Army.
Discussing his experience as a Democrat in a traditionally conservative state, Edwards reflected on how his partisanship impacted his campaign, noting that some of his positions differed from the national party’s platform.
“When I won in 2015, the Democratic Party in the country was talking about how to prove that Democrats could win statewide in the Deep South,” Edwards said. “What they talk about is being a big tent party…but when you actually govern the way you say you govern, you get a lot of criticism and you realize that maybe the big tent is just something they talk about and not something they actually want to practice.”
Edwards’ first year in office was marked by many tensions and emergencies, including Baton Rouge’s historic flooding in 2016 and the police shooting of Alton Sterling. The remainder of his term brought more crises, from natural disasters to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He must work with three presidents from different parties on federal disaster management and funding requests. Edwards said that in addition to aid for natural disasters, he also traveled to Washington to seek funding related to health care, education and infrastructure.
“I know I’m going to be governor of a state that has a lot of need,” Edwards said. “If I want to be the best, most effective governor, I need to have a good relationship with the president.”
Edwards said he did not want to unreasonably be president by criticizing national news during his time in office, something he said he had been asked to do during Trump’s first administration.
He said the reason he did so was not because he always agreed with everything surrounding the current president, but because he recognized that maintaining a cordial relationship with the president was necessary to obtain aid for the country.
“When I won re-election,…I told [President Donald Trump] “The election is over, I’m going to be governor for another four years, and it’s time to forget about the election and start working together as best we can,” Edwards said. “I share that with all of them, but it’s even more important with President Trump because he can be a very vindictive person.”
The News Building was packed with students, faculty and staff who came to hear Edwards speak and ask him questions. The event lasted an hour due to numerous inquiries from the audience.
“I really like how [he] Economics freshman Akeyna Travis said, “He came and was authentic. I really appreciated that he sat down and had a conversational interaction with us instead of just sitting down and talking to us or lecturing us.”
This article originally appeared in the Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Former Gov. Edwards not planning political return, won’t rule it out