Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1987 resulted in the election of Buddy Roemer as governor of Louisiana.

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 24, 1987. Having come in second place, Edwin Edwards was entitled to face Roemer in the runoff, but he withdrew from the race after the first round of voting. Buddy Roemer, elected as a Democrat, switched his party affiliation to Republican during his term as governor.

Results

First voting round, October 24

Runoff did not occur due to Edwards withdrawing

sequence
prev=1983 gubernatorial election
list=Louisiana gubernatorial elections
next=1991 gubernatorial election

Sources

State of Louisiana. "Primary and General Election Returns", 1987.