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Parish results Edwards: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Treen: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Louisiana |
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Government |
The 1983 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held to elect the governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican governor Dave Treen lost re-election to a second term, defeated by former Democratic governor Edwin Edwards. Edwards became the first governor since Earl Long to win non-consecutive terms. He also became the first to serve three full terms. This is the last time an incumbent governor of Louisiana lost re-election.
Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party, and voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. A runoff would be held if no candidate received an absolute majority of the vote during the primary election. On October 12, 1983, Edwards and Treen took the two highest popular vote counts, but a runoff election was not held as Edwards won over 50% of the vote in the primary. [1]
In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 22, 1983. Since Edwards won more than 50% of the votes on the first round, no runoff was needed. The runoff for other statewide offices that required one was November 19, 1983.
Treen became the first of three consecutive Louisiana governors to be denied re-election. Edwards himself was defeated by north Louisiana U.S. representative Buddy Roemer in 1987, refusing to contest the runoff after trailing Roemer in the primary. Edwards came back in 1991, and along with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, combined to oust Roemer in the primary before Edwards routed Duke in the runoff to win a fourth gubernatorial term.
This was the first time that any contestant for the governors election in Louisiana received at least one million votes. [2] Edwards also won 62 out of 64 parishes against Treen. Treen only carried Jefferson Parish, where he resided at the time (and represented in the U.S. House prior to his election as governor); and St. Tammany Parish, where he would eventually move following completion of his term.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Democratic | Edwin Edwards | 1,002,798 | 62.31% | |
Republican | David Treen (incumbent) | 585,692 | 36.39% | |
Republican | Robert M. Ross | 7,777 | 0.48% | |
Democratic | Ken "Cousin Ken" Lewis | 4,117 | 0.26% | |
Independent | Charley Moore | 2,381 | 0.15% | |
Democratic | Floyd Smith | 2,264 | 0.14% | |
Independent | Michele A. Smith | 2,253 | 0.14% | |
Independent | Joseph Thomas Robino, Jr. | 1,038 | 0.06% | |
Democratic | Michael J. Musmeci, Sr. | 1,032 | 0.06% | |
Total votes | 1,609,352 | 100% | ||
Democratic gain from Republican |
(1) Gubernatorial Debate on September 7, 1983
(2) Gubernatorial Debate on September 14, 1983
(3) Election Special from LPB on October 21, 1983, detailing in-depth report on the statewide primary elections
(4) Edwin Edwards Campaign Commercial "Edwin Edwards....Now"
(5) Profile of Edwin Edwards from WWL-TV New Orleans on October 22, 1983
(6) Edwards Victory Speech after winning landslide re-election to third term on WWL-TV New Orleans on October 22, 1983
Edwin Washington Edwards was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 7th congressional district from 1965 to 1972 and as the 50th governor of Louisiana for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he served twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive. He served a total of almost 16 years in gubernatorial office, which at 5,784 days is the sixth-longest such tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history.
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III was an American politician, investor, and banker who served as the 52nd governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992, and as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. In March 1991, while serving as governor, Roemer switched affiliation from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party.
David Conner Treen Sr. was an American politician and attorney from Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, Treen served as U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 1973 to 1980 and the 51st governor of Louisiana from 1980 to 1984. Treen was the first Republican elected to either office since Reconstruction.
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