BATON ROUGE - Republican U.S. Senator John Kennedy announced Wednesday that he will not be running for Louisiana governor in 2023.

Kennedy made the surprising announcement in an email to his supporters, WBRZ learned Wednesday.

"At this juncture, I just think I can help my state and country more in the Senate," Kennedy wrote in the message. 

Kennedy — who just won another term in the U.S. Senate in November — has for months teased a potential run in the gubernatorial race, alluding to polls that projected him as a likely winner and even admitting at one point that he was giving "serious consideration" to running in the fast-approaching fall election.

As of Wednesday, La. Attorney General Jeff Landry is one of the only high-profile Republicans to formally announce his campaign for the office.