Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1979

Last updated
Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1979
Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg
  1975 October 27, 1979 (primary)
December 8, 1979 (general)
1983  

  Dave Treen.jpg No image.svg
Nominee David Treen Louis Lambert
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote690,691681,134
Percentage50.3%49.7%

LA-Gov 1979.svg
Parish results

Governor before election

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Elected Governor

David Treen
Republican

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1979 resulted in the election of David Treen as the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Contents

Incumbent Governor Edwin Edwards was ineligible to run for a third term.

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.

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 October 27, 1979. The runoff was held on December 8, 1979.

A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office, regardless of respective political party, run against each other at once, instead of being segregated by political party. It is also known as a jungle primary, or qualifying primary. In most cases there are two winners who advance to the general election, which must be a normal first-past-the-post election, in this case it is called a top-two primary.

Texas State of the United States of America

Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Geographically located in the South Central region of the country, Texas shares borders with the U.S. states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the southwest, while the Gulf of Mexico is to the southeast.

Results

First voting round, October 27

CandidateParty affiliationVotes receivedPercent
David Treen Republican297,67421.79%
Louis Lambert Democrat283,26620.74%
Jimmy Fitzmorris Democrat280,76020.56%
Paul Hardy Democrat227,02616.62%
E.L. "Bubba" Henry Democrat135,7699.94%
Sonny Mouton Democrat124,3339.10%
Luther Devine Knox Democrat6,3270.46%
Ken Lewis Democrat5,9420.44%
Greg Nelson No Party4,7830.35%
Total1,365,880100%

Runoff, December 8

CandidateParty affiliationVotes receivedPercent
David Treen Republican690,69150.35%
Louis Lambert Democrat681,13449.65%
Total1,371,825100%
Preceded by
1975 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial elections Succeeded by
1983 gubernatorial election

Sources

State of Louisiana. Primary and General Election Returns, 1979.


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