A look back at Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ eight years in office

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — It was 2012 and Louisiana was spiraling toward a historic budget crisis, with public colleges bracing for another round of cuts that campus leaders said were chasing away students and shuttering programs.

John Bel Edwards, then-a rural state representative, had had enough. He turned to a fellow lawmaker and said, “I’m running for governor.”

The Democrat went on to shock the country, defying near-universal predictions and winning Louisiana’s gubernatorial election in the reliably red state twice.

Edwards, currently the lone Democratic governor in the Deep South, has reached his final two days in office after eight years. His tenure has been marked by successes — expanding Medicaid, joining climate change initiatives, climbing out of a budget deficit and investing in education — while navigating historical crises and facing challenges from a GOP-dominated legislature.

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A decade ago, Edwards, a lawyer from a 4,000-person