Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1995

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Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1995

Flag of Louisiana (1912-2006).svg


  1991 October 21 and November 18, 1995 1999  

  GovFoster1 (cropped).JPG Cleo Fields.jpg
Nominee Mike Foster Cleo Fields
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote984,499565,861
Percentage63.5%36.5%

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1995.svg

Parish Results
Foster:     
Fields     

Governor before election

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Elected Governor

Mike Foster
Republican

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1995 was held on November 18, 1995 to elect the Governor of Louisiana.

Contents

Incumbent Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards had planned to run for re-election to a second consecutive and fifth overall term in office, but he announced in June 1994, shortly after marrying his second wife Candy Picou, that he would be retiring from politics at the end of his term. [1]

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

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.

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.

All 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 when voting. 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 21, 1995, with Republican State Senator Mike Foster and Democratic U.S. Representative Cleo Fields finishing first and second with 26.1% and 19%, respectively. They thus advanced to a runoff, which was held on November 18, 1995. Foster defeated Fields in a landslide.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

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.

Cleo Fields American politician

Cleo C. Fields is an American attorney, politician and member of the Democratic Party from the U.S. state of Louisiana. He represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997 and ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Louisiana in 1995.

Candidates

The early field included eight individuals considered to be "major" candidates. These were State Representative Robert Adley, U.S. Representative Cleo Fields, State Senator Mike Foster, U.S. Representative William J. Jefferson, State Treasurer Mary Landrieu, former Governor Buddy Roemer, Lieutenant Governor Melinda Schwegmann and former Governor Dave Treen.

Robert Roy Adley is a businessman and politician from Benton, Louisiana, who is a Republican former member of the Louisiana State Senate. In 2011, Adley ran without opposition in his bid for his third and final term in Senate District 36. Louisiana state legislators are term-limited after three terms or twelve years.

William J. Jefferson American politician

William Jennings Jefferson is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He was elected as the state's first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction.

Mary Landrieu Louisiana politician

Mary Loretta Landrieu is an American politician, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Senator from the state of Louisiana. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

The makeup of the field led some analysts to dub this the "twins election", as each major candidate had a rival who appealed to a similar constituency or voter base. The sets of "twins" were: two mainstream Republican former governors (Treen and Roemer); two moderate Democratic female statewide office holders with ties to New Orleans (Landrieu and Schwegmann); two conservative Democratic state legislators (Foster and Adley); and two liberal, black Democratic U.S. Representatives (Fields and Jefferson).

New Orleans Largest city in Louisiana

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.

Treen and Jefferson eventually chose not to officially enter the race and Foster switched his party identification to Republican at the time of qualifying. Attorney Phil Preis also entered the race as a Democrat and with a self-financed campaign was able to enter the top tier of candidates. Eight minor candidates, two Democrats and six Independents, also qualified for the ballot.

Democratic Party

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Republican Party

Declared

Declined

Independents

Declared

Results

Parishes won by gubernatorial candidates in the October 21, 1995 jungle primary.
Mike Foster (38)
Cleo Fields (18)
Buddy Roemer (4)
Mary Landrieu (2)
Phil Preis (2) LAGovElection Oct95.png
Parishes won by gubernatorial candidates in the October 21, 1995 jungle primary.
  Mike Foster (38)
  Cleo Fields (18)
  Buddy Roemer (4)
  Mary Landrieu (2)
  Phil Preis (2)
Parishes won by gubernatorial candidates in the October 21, 1995 runoff election.
Mike Foster (59)
Cleo Fields (5) LAGovElection Nov95.png
Parishes won by gubernatorial candidates in the October 21, 1995 runoff election.
  Mike Foster (59)
  Cleo Fields (5)
Louisiana gubernatorial election jungle primary, 1995
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mike Foster 385,26726.10
Democratic Cleo Fields 280,92119.03
Democratic Mary Landrieu 271,93818.43
Republican Buddy Roemer 263,33017.84
Democratic Phil Preis 133,2719.03
Democratic Melinda Schwegmann 71,2884.83
Democratic Robert Adley 27,5341.87
Independent Arthur D. "Jim" Nichols16,6161.13
Democratic Gene H. Alexander5,6880.39
Independent Kenneth Woods4,9640.34
Independent Darryl Paul Ward4,2100.29
Democratic Belinda Alexandrenko3,1610.21
Independent Lonnie Creech2,3380.16
Independent Ronnie Glynn Johnson1,8840.13
Independent Anne Thompson1,4160.1
Total votes1,473,826100
Louisiana gubernatorial election runoff, 1995
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Mike Foster 984,49963.5
Democratic Cleo Fields 565,86136.5
Total votes1,550,360100
Republican gain from Democratic

See also

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References

Preceded by
1991 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial elections Succeeded by
1999 gubernatorial election