1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election

1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election

← 1975 October 27, 1979 (first round)
December 8, 1979 (runoff)
1983 →
 
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.[1]

  1. ^ Wayne, Stephen (2008). Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process Fifth Edition. Rowman & Littlefield.