BATON ROUGE - With the election only six months away, the Louisiana gubernatorial race seems to have taken shape.

All seven candidates gathered together for the first time Tuesday to discuss the issues affecting small businesses, but each used most of their time to set the tone for each of their campaigns.

"I'm serious about tackling the problems that this state has," Attorney General Jeff Landry said. "Look I, like many people who are watching this, are extremely frustrated with why Louisiana can't get itself off the bottom."

Analysts and polls suggest the front runners are Landry, Treasurer John Schroder and the race's only Democrat, recently retired Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson.

"While I'm a Democrat, that doesn't necessarily mean I am limited to just the ideas of the Democratic Party, so we're going to work across the aisle as we have done for the last 20 plus years and deliver real solutions to the state of Louisiana," Wilson said.

Though the majority of candidates are Republican, the field is packed with superlatives.

The only independent candidate, Hunter Lundy.

The only female candidate, Senator Sharon Hewitt.

The youngest candidate, 36-year-old State Representative Richard Nelson.

And the newest candidate, LABI President Stephen Waguespack who joined the race just last month.

The crowded playing field, several candidates say, is not a factor in their campaign strategy.

"I got in this race because of what I bring to the table, not necessarily who else is in the race," Schroder said.

Early voting for the 2023 election begins Sept. 30 and Election Day is Oct. 14.