KENNER, La. — Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is Louisiana’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction but whose popularity plummeted as the state struggled with a $1.6 billion shortfall, announced Wednesday that he is running for president in 2016.

Mr. Jindal, 44, an Indian-American, joins the crowded field of Republican contenders in what even his supporters call a long-shot candidacy.

Standing before a giant American flag at an event center in this New Orleans suburb, Mr. Jindal presented himself as a policy writer whose résumé — as a two-term governor and a former congressman who once led the state health agency and the University of Louisiana system — sets him apart. He said that Louisiana cut the number of “government bureaucrats” by more than 30,000 positions, and that the state now had the highest population in its history, with more people moving to Louisiana than leaving it.

“There are a lot of great talkers running for president already,” Mr. Jindal said, adding: “We’ve had enough of talkers. It is time for a doer.”