1972 Louisiana gubernatorial election
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Parish results Edwards: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Treen: 50-60% 60-70% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Louisiana |
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Government |
The 1972 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on February 1, 1972. Edwin Edwards defeated Republican candidate David Treen to become Governor of Louisiana.
Party primaries were held on November 6, 1971, and a run-off was held for the Democratic nomination on December 18, 1971. These were the last closed primaries for Governor of Louisiana before the state adopted its current primary election system.
Democratic primary[]
Candidates[]
- Taddy Aycock, Lieutenant Governor
- Samuel Bell Sr.
- Harold Lee Bethune II
- David L. Chandler
- Huey P. Coleman
- Jimmie Davis, former Governor from 1944 to 1948 and 1960 to 1964
- Edwin Edwards, U.S. Representative from Baton Rouge
- J. Bennett Johnston, State Representative from Shreveport
- Gillis Long, former U.S. Representative from Alexandria
- Speedy Long, U.S. Representative from LaSalle Parish
- Warren J. "Puggy" Moity
- James Moore
- Frank T. Salter Jr.
- John G. Schwegman
- , pediatrician and State Representative from Shreveport
- , perennial candidate and white supremacist
Campaign[]
Early in the campaign, conventional wisdom of many political analysts predicted that the race's top candidates would be Gillis Long, Jimmie Davis, and C.C. "Taddy" Aycock.[1] However, the two candidates to make the runoff, Edwin Edwards and J. Bennett Johnston, were relative newcomers to the Louisiana political scene, despite Edwards' Congressional tenure.[2]
Cousins Gillis and Speedy Long both ran in a rematch of their 1964 primary race for Congress when Speedy unseated Gillis. Ironically, Gillis reclaimed that House seat the next year when Speedy retired after Edwards and the Louisiana Legislature redistricted him into the same district as longtime incumbent Otto Passman.
Results[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Edwin Edwards | 276,397 | 23.54% | |
Democratic | J. Bennett Johnston | 208,830 | 17.79% | |
Democratic | Gillis William Long | 164,276 | 13.99% | |
Democratic | Jimmie H. Davis | 138,756 | 11.82% | |
Democratic | John G. Schwegmann | 92,072 | 7.84% | |
Democratic | Taddy Aycock | 88,465 | 7.54% | |
Democratic | Samuel Bell Sr. | 72,486 | 6.17% | |
Democratic | Speedy Long | 61,359 | 5.23% | |
Democratic | Frank T. Salter Jr. | 32,203 | 2.74% | |
Democratic | James Moore | 9,408 | 0.80% | |
Democratic | Warren J. "Puggy" Moity | 8,965 | 0.76% | |
Democratic | David L. Chandler | 7,244 | 0.62% | |
Democratic | Huey P. Coleman | 4,833 | 0.41% | |
Democratic | Harold Lee Bethune II | 3,032 | 0.26% | |
Democratic | Wilford L. Thompson Sr. | 2,535 | 0.21% | |
Democratic | 1,924 | 0.16% | ||
Democratic | 1,258 | 0.11% | ||
Total votes | 1,182,043 | 100.00% |
Run-off[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Edwin Edwards | 584,262 | 50.19% | 26.65 | |
Democratic | J. Bennett Johnston | 579,774 | 49.81% | 32.02 | |
Total votes | 1,164,036 | 100.00% |
Republican primary[]
Candidates[]
- Robert Max Ross
- Dave Treen, perennial candidate for U.S. Representative from Metairie
Results[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dave Treen | 9,732 | 92.06% | |
Republican | Robert Max Ross | 839 | 7.94% | |
Total votes | 10,571 | 100.00% |
General election[]
Results[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Edwin Edwards | 641,146 | 57.2% | 42.8 | |
Republican | Dave Treen | 480,424 | 42.8% | N/A | |
Total votes | 1,121,570 | 100.00% |
Preceded by 1967 gubernatorial election |
Louisiana gubernatorial elections | Succeeded by 1975 gubernatorial election |
Sources[]
Louisiana Secretary of State. Primary Election Returns, 1971
References[]
- ^ "2 New Faces Top Primary In Louisiana". Toledo Blade. 8 November 1971. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ^ "New Faces Winning In Louisiana". Miami News. 8 November 1971. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- Louisiana gubernatorial elections
- 1971 United States gubernatorial elections
- 1972 United States gubernatorial elections
- 1971 Louisiana elections
- 1972 Louisiana elections
- February 1972 events in the United States
- Louisiana stubs