2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election

2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election

← 1999 October 4, 2003 (first round)
November 15, 2003 (runoff)
2007 →
 
Candidate Kathleen Blanco Bobby Jindal Richard Ieyoub
Party Democratic Republican Democratic
First round 250,136
18.36%
443,389
32.54%
223,513
16.4%
Runoff 731,358
51.95%
676,484
48.05%
Eliminated

 
Candidate Buddy Leach Randy Ewing Hunt Downer
Party Democratic Democratic Republican
First round 187,872
13.79%
123,936
9.1%
84,718
6.22%
Runoff Eliminated Eliminated Eliminated

First round results by parish
Blanco:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Jindal:      20–30%      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Ieyoub:      20–30%      30–40%
Leach:      20–30%      30–40%      50–60%
Ewing:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
Downer:      20–30%      40–50%

Governor before election

Mike Foster
Republican

Elected Governor

Kathleen Blanco
Democratic

The 2003 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on November 15, 2003, to elect the governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Foster was not eligible to run for re-election to a third term because of term limits established by the Louisiana Constitution.

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 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 percent of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may be members of the same party. In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 4, 2003, and the runoff was held on November 15, 2003.

As of 2024, this is the most recent Louisiana gubernatorial election in which the winner of the first round did not win the runoff.