Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983

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Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983
Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg
  1979 October 22, 1983 1987  
  Edwin Edwards.jpg Dave Treen.jpg
Nominee Edwin Edwards Dave Treen
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote1,002,798585,692
Percentage62.3%36.4%

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983.svg
Parish Results
Edwards:
     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Treen:
     50–60%
Unknown:
     

Governor before election

Dave Treen
Republican

Elected Governor

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1983 resulted in the election of Edwin Edwards as Governor of Louisiana, defeating incumbent David Treen.

Edwin Edwards American politician, including Governor of Louisiana

Edwin Washington Edwards is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party 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, twice as many elected terms as any other Louisiana chief executive. He served a total of 16 years in office, the sixth-longest serving gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,784 days.

Contents

Background

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle 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.

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 which 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.

Buddy Roemer American politician

Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is 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.

This was the first time that any contestant for the governors election in Louisiana received at least one million votes. [1] Edwards also won 62 out of 64 parishes against Treen. Treen only carried Jefferson Parish, where he resided at the time; and St. Tammany Parish, where he would eventually move following completion of his term.

Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Parish in the United States

Jefferson Parish is a parish in the state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 432,552. The parish seat is Gretna.

St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Parish in the United States

St. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 233,740, making it the fifth-most populous parish in Louisiana. The parish seat is Covington. The parish was founded in 1810.

Results

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1983 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Edwin Edwards 1,002,79862.31%
Republican David Treen 585,69236.39%
Republican Robert M. Ross 7,7770.48%
Democratic Ken "Cousin Ken" Lewis 4,1170.26%
Independent Charley Moore 2,3810.15%
Democratic Floyd Smith 2,2640.14%
Independent Michele A. Smith 2,2530.14%
Independent Joseph Thomas Robino, Jr. 1,0380.06%
Democratic Michael J. Musmeci, Sr. 1,0320.06%
Total votes1,609,352100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

Videos

(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

(7) LPB Coverage on the Primary Recap from October 28, 1983

Related Research Articles

References

  1. "Louisiana gubernatorial election results, 1983". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 22, 1983. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
  2. "Louisiana gubernatorial election results, 1983". Louisiana Secretary of State. October 22, 1983. Retrieved August 14, 2017.
Preceded by
1979 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial elections Succeeded by
1987 gubernatorial election