But a slower-than-ideal recovery is not unique to Louisiana. How the state has dealt with it is the root of the problem, said Mr. Jindal’s policy critics. That group includes some of his own party members running to replace Mr. Jindal, who is barred by term limits from seeking a third term as governor.

“In many ways the economy’s doing pretty good, but there’s a disconnect because of this broken fiscal policy,” said United States Senator David Vitter, a Republican and the current favorite in the governor’s race.

Among Mr. Vitter’s targets are the state’s generous and expanding buffet of tax incentives and its increasing reliance on one-time sources of revenue to plug budget gaps. “I don’t agree with his general approach,” he said of Mr. Jindal.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Jindal defended his record, attributing “the vast majority” of the shortfall to the downturn in oil prices and insisting that a shrunken state government was the goal, not an unfortunate side effect.

“We made an explicit decision and commitment that we were going to cut the government, the public sector economy, as opposed to the private sector economy,” he said, adding that per capita income in the state is at its highest. “We made the intentional policy decision we think it’d be better to shrink government and cut taxes. That’s unusual for Louisiana.”

A movement to re-examine tax credits and exemptions — which quickly add up to more than $1 billion a year — has been gaining steam in the Republican-controlled Legislature. But Mr. Jindal is firmly against any changes that would result in net new revenue. Last year he even vetoed a bill that would have required the state to tally up the costs of those tax credits and rebates on the grounds that it could “create uncertainty about the state’s commitment to job creation and economic development.”