1972 Louisiana gubernatorial election

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 Crowley
• J. Bennett Johnston, State Senator 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, grocery store magnate and State Senator from Metairie
• Jimmy Strain, pediatrician and State Representative from Shreveport
• Addison Roswell Thompson, 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. 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.

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

Run-off

Republican primary

Candidates

• Robert Max Ross
• Dave Treen, a Congressman who eventually served as Louisiana Governor from 1980 to 1984 (when he was defeated in 1983 for re-election by Edwin W. Edwards, who was making a return to the governorship after having been term-limited from running for re-election in 1979).

Campaign

The GOP primary with only two candidates and a lopsided victory for Treen led the New York Times to characterize it as "the most concentrated Republican campaign for state office in recent history."

Results

General election

Campaign

Edwards and Treen both "jabbed consistently at corruption and in efficiency in government and promised to shore up the state's financial condition."

Treen had never previously been elected to public office, and Edwards focused on his experience in contrast to Treen's lack of it. Treen argued that Edwards couldn't be a true reform candidate due to his experience.

If Treen had been elected, he would have been the first Republican occupant of the Louisiana governorship since 1877.

Results

Louisiana gubernatorial election}}

Sources

Louisiana Secretary of State. Primary Election Returns, 1971

References

References

1. (8 November 1971). "2 New Faces Top Primary In Louisiana". Toledo Blade.
2. (8 November 1971). "New Faces Winning In Louisiana". Miami News.
3. (February 2, 1972). "Democrat Is Winner in Election For Governorship of Louisiana". New York Times.