1991 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election

1991 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election

←  1987 19 October 1991 (first round) 16 November 1991 (runoff) 1995  →

Candidate Melinda Schwegmann Paul Hardy Thomas Clausen Party Democratic Republican Democratic First round 624,371 42.86% 620,199 42.57% 115,921 7.96% Runoff 1,009,026 59.27% 693,412 40.73% Eliminated

Lieutenant Governor before election Paul Hardy Republican Elected Lieutenant Governor Melinda Schwegmann Democratic

The 1991 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on 16 November 1991 in order to elect the lieutenant governor of Louisiana. Democratic candidate Melinda Schwegmann defeated incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Paul Hardy in the Runoff election, thereby becoming the first woman to have been elected lieutenant governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana.

Background

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary or the nonpartisan blanket primary. 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. Texas uses this same format for its special elections. In this election, the first round of voting was held on 19 October 1991. The runoff was held on 16 November 1991. ^[1]

Primary election

On election day, 19 October 1991, incumbent Democratic candidate Melinda Schwegmann and incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Paul Hardy received the most votes and thus advanced to a runoff election on 16 November. ^[2]

Results

Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial primary election, 1991

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melinda Schwegmann	624,371	42.86
	Republican	Paul Hardy (incumbent)	620,199	42.57
	Democratic	Thomas Clausen	115,921	7.96
	Democratic	James Ellis Richardson	51,451	3.53
	Democratic	Gary M. Wiltz	45,012	3.08
Total votes			1,456,954	100.00

Runoff election

On election day, 16 November 1991, Democratic candidate Melinda Schwegmann defeated incumbent Republican lieutenant governor Paul Hardy by a margin of 315,614 votes, thereby gaining Democratic control over the office of lieutenant governor. Schwegmann was sworn in as the 49th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana on 3 January 1992. ^[3]

Results

Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial runoff election, 1991

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melinda Schwegmann	1,009,026	59.27
	Republican	Paul Hardy (incumbent)	693,412	40.73
Total votes			1,702,438	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

1. Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.
2. "LA Lt. Governor - Initial Election". ourcampaigns.com. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
3. "LA Lt. Governor - Runoff". ourcampaigns.com. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2025.