Jacob Landry makes history by winning District 49 race

History was made Saturday night in Erath.
Jacob Landry, a 44-year-old Erath native, became the first Vermilion Parish native to win the District 49 State Representative race.
Since the district’s conception, the district has included a majority of Iberia Parish residents and the east side of Vermilion Parish.
With the new 2020 census, District 49 was redrawn, and the new district lines consist of 30 percent of Iberia Parish, 30 percent of Vermilion Parish and 40 percent of Lafayette Parish.
Around 15 months ago, Landry threw his name in the hat for the District 49 race. It paid off because he beat two candidates by capturing 64 percent of the votes. He had 7,433 votes, and Sandy Derise finished second with 2,331 votes.
“I am honored to serve District 49,” Landry said. “This race was never about me or my family, but rather the families of the district. I will be an open-door representative and transparent in all my work. I will bring a coalition of stake holders from across our district with me to Baton Rouge, to bring positive change for District 49”
Because District 49 is divided into three parishes, he had to figure out what all three parishes had in common.
Landry based his campaign on five common selling points: oil and gas, infrastructure, drainage, keeping the youths in Louisiana and also to get the cost of insurance under control and try to lower it.
“The oil and gas industry needs protection,” Landry said. “We must also find ways to keep the youth from leaving our state. We need to find a way to lower the cost of insurance in Louisiana.”
In the next few months, Landry plans to visit the municipalities and school boards in his district. “I want to let them know I am here to assist them. I am looking forward to helping everyone I can,” he said.
Landry becomes the second Erath High graduate to hold an elected state office.
The first was Roy Theriot, an Erath High graduate, who was the state’s comptroller from 1960 to 1973 under then-governor Jimmy Davis.
Since Landry was in high school, he has always loved politics. When he was 16, he was a page in the House of Representatives with Abbeville’s State Representative Sammy Theriot. Sammy is Roy Theriot’s son.
“I got to see government early,” Landry said.
On Sunday, he was not 100 percent sure where his office would be located. Landry said he wanted his office to be at a central location between Iberia, Lafayette and Vermilion parishes.