Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1928

Last updated April 20, 2019

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1928 was held on January 17, 1928. Like in most Southern states between the Reconstruction Era and the Civil Rights Movement, Louisiana's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral support. This meant that the Democratic Party primary held on this date was the real contest over who would be governor.

Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party.

Huey Pierce Long Jr., nicknamed "The Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and was a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his assassination in 1935. As the political leader of Louisiana, he commanded wide networks of supporters and was willing to take forceful action. He established the long-term political prominence of the Long family.

Candidates

Huey P. Long – Huey Long of Winnfield had begun his 1928 campaign for governor shortly after being defeated in the 1924 election. This time around, Long had managed to secure more campaign funding from contributors like New Orleans businessman Robert Maestri. He also had a greatly raised profile, in part due to his strategic decision to campaign on behalf of Catholic candidates Edwin S. Broussard and Joseph E. Ransdell in the U.S. Senate races of 1924 and 1926. This gave him a significant boost in support in Catholic southern Louisiana. He had also built a reputation due to frequent radio appearances and newspaper stories, and had built a stronger campaign organization than he had in 1924.

Winnfield is a small city in the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census, and 4,840 in 2010. Three governors of the state of Louisiana were from Winnfield.

New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. With an estimated population of 393,292 in 2017, it is the most populous city in Louisiana. A major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States.

Riley J. Wilson – Four intervening years had made Louisiana's political and economic establishment begin to see Long as a threat. Consisting of wealthy planters, businessmen, and New Orleans's Regular Democratic Organization political bosses, the political leadership of the state united behind the candidacy of U.S. Congressman Riley J. Wilson of Ruston in July 1927. His campaign focused on the threat of Long's radicalism; a banner reading "It Won’t Be Long Now" was featured prominently at Wilson's campaign stops. Wilson's reputation was tainted by his connection to what was perceived to be an inadequate federal response to the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927; he was the ranking member of Congress's Flood Control Committee.

Riley Joseph Wilson was a Louisiana educator, attorney, and legislator in the first half of the late 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. A Democrat, Wilson served in the United States House of Representatives from 1915 until 1937. He was defeated for renomination in 1936 by Newt V. Mills.

The Regular Democratic Organization (RDO), or Old Regulars, or the New Orleans Ring, is a conservative political organization based in New Orleans. It has existed for 130 years and as of 2017 is still active. The symbol of the RDO is the rooster. For many years the organization's headquarters was at the Choctaw Club.

Ruston is a small city and the parish seat of Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the largest city in the Eastern Ark-La-Tex region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 21,859, reflecting an increase of 6.4 percent from the count of 20,546 counted in the 2000 Census. Ruston is near the eastern border of the Ark-La-Tex region and is the home of Louisiana Tech University. Its economy is therefore based on its college population. Ruston hosts the annual Peach Festival.

Oramel H. Simpson – Incumbent governor Oramel H. Simpson of New Orleans also ran for re-election, but his campaign was seen as bland and ineffectual and attracted little support. Having become governor only with the death of Henry L. Fuqua in 1926, former Lieutenant Governor Simpson was not considered by the establishment to be a strong enough candidate to face Long. Like Wilson, Simpson's already lukewarm levels of support suffered after disaffection with his response to the Mississippi flood. He was also handicapped by a reputation for heavy drinking.

Oramel Hinckley Simpson was an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. He became the 39th Governor of Louisiana in 1926, upon the death of his predecessor, Henry L. Fuqua. He was defeated – he ran third in the critical Democratic primary – in his bid for a full term in 1928 by the legendary Huey Pierce Long Jr., of Winnfield, the seat of Winn Parish.

Henry L. Fuqua Governor of Louisiana, 1924-1926

Henry Luse Fuqua, Sr., was an American businessman and, for his last two and a half years, a governor of Louisiana. During 1924, Fuqua defeated both Huey Pierce Long, Jr., and former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Hewitt Leonidas Bouanchaud to succeed John M. Parker in the state's governorship. He died halfway into his term, and Lieutenant Governor Oramel H. Simpson took over the top post.

Campaign

Despite negative coverage by the majority of the state's newspapers, Long managed to gain the support of the New Orleans States and the Shreveport Times. The New Orleans Times-Picayune and the Shreveport Caucasian supported Simpson, while the New Orleans Item supported Wilson. Long's seemingly inexhaustible energy gave him an advantage, as he managed to travel extensively across the state, making several stops a day in rural areas neglected by the other candidates. His campaign used the slogan "Every Man a King, But No One Wears a Crown." Long's theatrical oratory combined insulting his opponents and the corporations he blamed for the state's underdevelopment with promising increased educational funding, free textbooks, public hospitals, and free bridges and road improvements. He also campaigned against the corruption and wastefulness of previous administrations. Simpson and Wilson, offering only bland defenses of the status quo, were often overwhelmed when appearing alongside Long at debates and other campaign events. A widely publicized fistfight between Long and former governor Jared Y. Sanders during the campaign did nothing to damage Long's popularity.

Results

Democratic Primary – January 17, 1928

Candidate	Votes received	Percent
Huey P. Long	126,842	43.90%
Riley J. Wilson	81,747	28.29%
Oramel H. Simpson	80,326	27.80%

Following the lopsided showings of the first primary, Simpson refused to support Wilson in the runoff and Wilson withdrew from the race.

Long carried 47 of 64 parishes, including the majority of rural parishes in both Anglo-Saxon Protestant northern and French Catholic southern Louisiana, a nearly unprecedented accomplishment up to that time. Only New Orleans, still firmly controlled by the Regular Democratic Organization, spurned Long in favor of the machine's chosen candidate Wilson. The political upheaval of Long's 1928 victory spurred a realignment in Louisiana politics based on urban-rural and class-based divisions rather than the religious and cultural divisions which had predominated up to that time. In every state election from 1928 to 1960, the legacy of Huey Long would be the primary campaign issue.

General Election – April 17, 1928

Long faced a Republican opponent named Etienne J. Caire, who was a sugar cane farmer and businessman from St. John the Baptist Parish. In the end, Caire polled 4 percent of the vote.^[1] After Caire, the next Republican gubernatorial candidate, Harrison Bagwell, a Baton Rouge attorney, also polled 4 percent of the vote in his 1952 contest against Democrat Robert F. Kennon.^[2]

Party	Candidate	Votes received	Percent
Democratic	Huey P. Long	92,941	96.14%
Republican	Etienne J. Caire	3,733	3.86%

Preceded by 1924 gubernatorial election	Louisiana gubernatorial elections	Succeeded by 1932 gubernatorial election

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References

↑ Milburn E. Calhoun (2008). Louisiana Almanac, 2008-2009. Pelican Publishing Company. p. 511. ISBN 9781455607709 . Retrieved November 29, 2013.
↑ Michael J. Dubin (2014-03-17). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1932-1952: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0-7864-7034-1 . Retrieved January 6, 2015.

Sources

Compilation of Primary Election Returns of the Democratic Party, State of Louisiana. 1928.

Hair, William Ivy. The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey P. Long. LSU Press, 1991.

White, Richard. Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long. Random House, 2006.

Williams, T. Harry. Huey Long. Knopf, 1970.

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[1] Milburn E. Calhoun (2008). Louisiana Almanac, 2008-2009. Pelican Publishing Company. p. 511. ISBN 9781455607709 . Retrieved November 29, 2013.

[2] Michael J. Dubin (2014-03-17). United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1932-1952: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0-7864-7034-1 . Retrieved January 6, 2015.