VIDALIA — After weeks of statewide protest against a proposed legislative pay raise that would have increased lawmaker pay by almost $21,000, Gov. Bobby Jindal vetoed the legislation Monday morning.

The proposed legislation would have increased legislative pay from $16,800 yearly to $37,500 a year.

District 32 Sen. Neil Riser voted against the pay raise and signed an affidavit saying he would not take it even before the bill went to the governor’s desk.

“(Whether or not to veto) was left to the governor’s discretion,” Riser said. “I would have respected his decision either way it went.”

Riser said he thought the governor’s decision to veto the pay raise was fueled by the voice of the Louisiana electorate.

“I think he vetoed it for the same reason I voted against it,” Riser said. “The people of the state were really against it, and he listened to the people.”

The veto announcement came after the pay raise infuriated voters, leading some to file recall petitions against the governor and two of his top allies in the Legislature. Jindal said he should not have promised lawmakers that he’d withhold his veto pen.

‘‘Today I am correcting my mistake,’’ Jindal said.

The announcement came two weeks after lawmakers approved the pay raise bill.

Jindal said at the time that he disapproved, but that he would allow the raise of more than 100 percent to become law — a position that triggered the first wave of criticism in his six months as governor. He became a daily target for stinging attacks from editorialists, talk radio callers and bloggers, many of whom questioned whether the governor was being pushed around by the Legislature.

Critics had also noted that Jindal made campaign promises last year to ‘‘prohibit’’ lawmakers from approving such a pay raise for themselves.

On Monday, Jindal said breaking his promise to lawmakers could make them angry, but added he hopes they will continue to back his proposals.

‘‘They’ve got a right to be angry with me,’’ he said. ‘‘I made a mistake in telling them I’d stay out of it.’’

Jindal made the surprise announcement at a news conference that had been scheduled to discuss state budget matters.

A poll conducted during the weekend — as the controversy reached its peak — found that Jindal’s approval ratings have sunk. Southern Media & Opinion Research polled 600 likely voters statewide, and 59.3 percent had a favorable view of the governor compared with 35.8 percent who had an unfavorable view. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percent.

A similar poll in April found Jindal with 77.1 percent favorable responses and 6.8 percent unfavorable.

After Jindal’s announcement, House Speaker Jim Tucker released a brief statement that said ‘‘I respect Gov. Jindal’s veto of Senate Bill 672.’’

Tucker, R-Terrytown, defended the pay-raise proposal as an attempt to raise legislative pay so that all types of people — not just the rich — could afford to serve in the House or Senate. Tucker, R-Terrytown, noted that the state Constitution says legislative pay can only be altered by the legislators themselves.

The veto caused organizers to drop recall efforts aimed at Jindal and Tucker. Forcing a recall election against Jindal would have required petition signatures from one-third of Louisiana’s registered voters — more than 900,000 people — within six months of the petition’s filing.

Others targeted by pending recall efforts were Rep. Hunter Greene, one of the governor’s top committee chairmen, and a handful of other House Republicans.

The Southern Media poll also had troubling findings for lawmakers. Asked if they’d vote to re-elect a legislator who voted for the pay raise, 67.6 of respondents answered ‘‘No.’’

The pay raise bill by Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, would have raised lawmakers’ annual base pay from $16,800 to $37,500. It would have made Louisiana legislators the highest-paid in the South and the 14th highest-paid in the country, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. The bill gained final approval in the House and Senate by slim margins.