Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1975

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1975

November 1, 1975

Candidate Edwin Edwards Bob Jones Wade O. Martin, Jr. Party Democratic Democratic Democratic Popular vote 750,107 292,220 146,368 Percentage 62.4% 24.3% 12.2%

Governor before election Edwin Edwards Democratic Elected Governor Edwin Edwards Democratic

Elections in Louisiana
Federal government Presidential Elections 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 Presidential primaries Democratic 2008 Republican 2008 2012 U.S. Senate elections 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2004 2008 2010 2014 2016 U.S. House elections 2000 2002 2004 2006 (2nd) 2008 (2nd) 2010 2012 2014 2016 Special elections 1st district, 1999 1st district, 2008 6th district, 2008 5th district, 2013
State government State elections by year 2007 2010 2011 2015 Gubernatorial elections 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1830 (special) 1834 1838 1842 1846 1849 1852 1855 1859 1863 (Confederate) 1864 (Union) 1865 1868 1872 1876 1879 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1959–60 1963–64 1967 1971–72 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Lieutenant gubernatorial elections 2010 (special) 2015 Attorney General elections 2011 2015
Ballot measures 2004 Amendment 1
New Orleans Mayoral elections 1866 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1950 1954 1958 1962 1965 1969–70 1973 1977 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2017 New Orleans City Council elections 2006 2010 2014
Shreveport Mayoral elections 2014
Government

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1975 resulted in the re-election of Edwin Edwards to his second term as governor of Louisiana.

Background

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system. 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 gubernatorial election held under the state's new open primary law – the first round of voting was held on November 1, 1975.

Although no runoff was needed, because of the way the new election law was written, an unopposed runoff was held on December 13. Edwards received 430,095 votes in it, according to figures recorded by the Louisiana Secretary of State's office. The Republicans did not field a candidate for the election. The law was later rewritten to where the unopposed runoff was not required if a candidate won an outright majority in the primary. This happened in the 1983 election, when Edwards won a third non-consecutive term over Republican incumbent David C. Treen.

Results

First voting round, November 1

Sources

• State of Louisiana. Primary and General Election Returns, 1975.