Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1979

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1979 resulted in the election of David Treen as the first Republican governor of Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Background

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. 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. [2] 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 24

Runoff, December 8

sequence
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list=Louisiana gubernatorial elections
next=1983 gubernatorial election

Sources

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