1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election

1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election

October 27, 1979 (first round) December 8, 1979 (runoff)

Candidate Dave Treen Louis Lambert Jimmy Fitzmorris Party Republican Democratic Democratic First round 297,674 21.79% 283,266 20.74% 280,760 20.56% Runoff 690,691 50.35% 681,134 49.65% Eliminated   Candidate Paul Hardy E. L. "Bubba" Henry Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr. Party Democratic Democratic Democratic First round 227,026 16.62% 135,769 9.94% 124,333 9.1% Runoff Eliminated Eliminated Eliminated

Treen:      20–30%      30–40%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Lambert:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Fitzmorris:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50% Hardy:      20-30%      30-40%      40-50%      50-60% Henry:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50% Mouton:      40–50%

Governor before election Edwin Edwards Democratic Elected Governor Dave Treen Republican

The 1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election resulted in the election of David Treen as the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction in the disputed election of 1872. Incumbent Governor Edwin Edwards was ineligible to run for a third term, making it the only gubernatorial election in Louisiana between 1972 and 1991 to not feature Edwards as a candidate.

This was the first gubernatorial election held after the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978.

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.

Results

First voting round, October 27

Candidate	Party affiliation	Votes received	Percent
David Treen	Republican	297,674	21.79%
Louis Lambert	Democrat	283,266	20.74%
Jimmy Fitzmorris	Democrat	280,760	20.56%
Paul Hardy	Democrat	227,026	16.62%
E.L. "Bubba" Henry	Democrat	135,769	9.94%
Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton, Jr.	Democrat	124,333	9.10%
Luther Devine "None of the Above" Knox	Democrat	6,327	0.46%
Ken Lewis	Democrat	5,942	0.44%
Greg Nelson	No Party	4,783	0.35%
Total		1,365,880	100%

Runoff, December 8

Candidate	Party affiliation	Votes received	Percent
David Treen	Republican	690,691	50.35%
Louis Lambert	Democrat	681,134	49.65%
Total		1,371,825	100%

Sources

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