1975 United States gubernatorial elections

1975 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1974 November 1 and 4, 1975 1976  →
4 governorships 3 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 36 13 Seats after 36 13 Seat change Seats up 3 0 Seats won 3 0
Democratic hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held in three states and one territory, on November 1, 1975, in Louisiana, and three days later in Kentucky and Mississippi. No governorships changed hands in these elections, as all three southern states remained under Democratic control.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Julian Carroll	Democratic	1974 [a]	Incumbent elected to full term. [1]	Y Julian Carroll (Democratic) 62.84% Bob Gable (Republican) 37.16%
Louisiana	Edwin Edwards	Democratic	1972	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Edwin Edwards (Democratic) 62.35% Robert G. Jones (Democratic) 24.29% Wade O. Martin Jr. (Democratic) 12.17% Ken Lewis (Democratic) 0.44%
Mississippi	Bill Waller	Democratic	1971	Incumbent term-limited. [2] New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Cliff Finch (Democratic) 52.19% Gil Carmichael (Republican) 45.14% Henry Kirksey (Independent) 2.67%

Close states

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Mississippi, 7.05%

Kentucky

1975 Kentucky gubernatorial election

←  1971 November 4, 1975 1979  →

Nominee Julian Carroll Bob Gable Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 470,159 277,998 Percentage 62.84% 37.16%

County results Congressional district results Carroll:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Gable:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Julian Carroll Democratic Elected Governor Julian Carroll Democratic

The 1975 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1975. Incumbent Democrat Julian Carroll defeated Republican nominee Robert E. Gable with 62.84% of the vote.

Louisiana

1975 Louisiana gubernatorial election

←  1972 November 1, 1975 1979  →

Candidate Edwin Edwards Robert G. Jones Wade O. Martin Jr. Party Democratic Democratic Democratic Popular vote 750,107 292,220 146,368 Percentage 62.35% 24.29% 12.17%

Parish results Edwards:      30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Jones:      30–40%     40–50%

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.

This was the last gubernatorial election held before the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978. ^[3]

Mississippi

1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election

←  1971 November 5, 1975 1979  →

Nominee Cliff Finch Gil Carmichael Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 369,568 319,632 Percentage 52.19% 45.14%

County results Finch:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Carmichael:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%

Governor before election Bill Waller Democratic Elected Governor Cliff Finch Democratic

The 1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1975, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Bill Waller was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term.

Notes

1. Carroll took office after his predecessor (Wendell Ford) resigned.

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
2. "Our Campaigns - MS Governor Race - Nov 04, 1975".
3. Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.