1975 Louisiana gubernatorial election

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1975 Louisiana gubernatorial election
Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg
  1972 November 1, 1975 1979  
  Edwin Edwards.jpg 3x4.svg 3x4.svg
Candidate Edwin Edwards Robert G. JonesWade O. Martin Jr.
Party Democratic Democratic Democratic
Popular vote750,107292,220146,368
Percentage62.35%24.29%12.17%

Governor before election

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Elected Governor

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

The 1975 Louisiana gubernatorial election resulted in the re-election of Edwin Edwards to his second term as governor of Louisiana. This was the last time that a Democrat was re-elected to a second consecutive term as governor of Louisiana until 2019, 44 years later, when John Bel Edwards (no relation) won re-election.

Contents

This was the last gubernatorial election held before the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978. [1]

Background

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party. In this election – the first gubernatorial election held under the state's new open primary law – the first round of voting was held on November 1, 1975.

Although no runoff was needed, because of the way the new election law was written, an unopposed runoff was held on December 13. Edwards received 430,095 votes in it, according to figures recorded by the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. The Republicans did not field a candidate for the election. The law was later rewritten to where the unopposed runoff was not required if a candidate won an outright majority in the primary. This happened in the 1983 election, when Edwards won a third non-consecutive term over Republican incumbent David C. Treen.

Candidates

Results

1975 Louisiana gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Edwin Edwards (incumbent) 750,107 62.35%
Democratic Bob Jones292,22024.29%
Democratic Wade O. Martin Jr. 146,36812.17%
Democratic Ken Lewis5,3070.44%
Democratic Addison Roswell Thompson4,6640.39%
Democratic Cecilia M. Pizzo4,3380.36%
Total votes1,203,004 100%

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References

  1. Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.

Sources

Preceded by
1972 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial elections Succeeded by
1979 gubernatorial election