Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards released the following statement regarding former Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s illness:

“Donna and I have been blessed to come to know Gov. Blanco and her large, beautiful family over the past several years. She is a strong woman of incredible faith, a deep and abiding love of Louisiana and all its people. Now we ask the people of our state to join their prayers to ours that she, aided by the Great Physician as well as her medical team, wins a great victory over her cancer and is restored to full health.”