Landry: 'I'm available if an opportunity comes'

Rep. Jeff Landry (R-La.) isn't closing the door on a possible run against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) in 2014, but declined to elaborate further on his future political prospects after leaving Congress.

"I'll be available if an opportunity comes to promote conservative values," Landry told the Times-Picayune.

The freshman Tea Party lawmaker was defeated this year by fellow GOP Rep. Charles Boustany after a close race forced the two to a runoff. Boustany prevailed, taking more than three-fourths of the vote, but Landry insisted his opponent's win had more to do with redistricting, which shattered Landry's old constituency, than his outspoken conservative views.

He blamed in part the belief that Republicans should compromise more with Democrats for the GOP's failure to take back the White House and the Senate.

"We have to give in because if we don't we run the risk of losing the White House and not taking control of the Senate. We know how that turned out," he said.

And Landry joined a chorus of conservative lawmakers frustrated with GOP leadership in lambasting Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his fellow top Republicans. Landry accused the party heads of what he said was an overabundance of caution, and a failure to harness the "momentum and energy" of the record influx of Republican lawmakers from the 2010 elections.

"The leadership was too cautious, and we missed an opportunity to make a real difference," he said.

He's one potential contender for Landrieu's seat when she comes up for reelection in 2014. Though the three-term senator won reelection in 2008 with slightly more than 50 percent of the vote, Republican Mitt Romney took Louisiana by more than 15 percent this year, making it a top pickup opportunity for Senate Republicans.

The only definitive details Landry offered about his future plans included a favorite hobby: duck hunting.

"I plan to do a lot of hunting in the next month," he said.

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