1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election

The 1979 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on December 8, 1979. 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. In the race to succeed him, Dave Treen narrowly defeated Louis Lambert to become the first Republican governor of Louisiana since the Reconstruction Era.
This was the second gubernatorial election held after the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1975, and the first to require a runoff. In the primary election held on October 27, Treen and Lambert finished first and second, respectively, to advance against a field of Democratic candidates including Lieutenant Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris, Secretary of State Paul Hardy, speaker of the Louisiana House E. L. Henry, and state senator Sonny Mouton.

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.

Primary election

Candidates

Democratic

Jimmy Fitzmorris, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Paul Hardy, Secretary of State of Louisiana
E. L. Henry, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives
Luther Devine "None of the Above" Knox
Louis Lambert, chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission
Ken "Cousin Ken" Lewis, perennial candidate
Edgar G. "Sonny" Mouton Jr., State Senator from Lafayette

Republican

Dave Treen, U.S. Representative from Metairie and Republican nominee for Governor in 1971-72

Socialist Workers

Greg Nelson

Debates

Results

On election night, the race for second place was too close to call between Lambert and Fitzmorris. Lambert declared victory the following Wednesday. Fitzmorris filed a lawsuit to contest the election, citing voting irregularities.

Runoff election

Campaign

Following the results of the first round, Henry and Mouton endorsed Treen. Lambert alleged that their endorsements had been secured in exchange for payment of their campaign debts; Henry, Mouton and Treen each denied the charge.