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 Parish results Edwards: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Treen: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The1972 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on February 1, 1972.Edwin Edwards defeated Republican candidateDavid Treen to becomeGovernor of Louisiana.
Edwards's victory was the first time aRoman Catholic had been elected to the state's governorship sinceFrancis T. Nicholls left office in 1892.[1]
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 itscurrent primary election system.
This was also the last gubernatorial election not to take place in an off-year, as all elections starting from1975 would take place one year before apresidential election.
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.[2] 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.[3]
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 incumbentOtto Passman.
| 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 | Addison Roswell Thompson | 1,924 | 0.16% | |
| Democratic | Jimmy Strain | 1,258 | 0.11% | |
| Total votes | 1,182,043 | 100.00% | ||
| 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% | |||
The GOP primary with only two candidates and a lopsided victory for Treen led theNew York Times to characterize it as "the most concentrated Republican campaign for state office in recent history."[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Dave Treen | 9,732 | 92.06% | |
| Republican | Robert Max Ross | 839 | 7.94% | |
| Total votes | 10,571 | 100.00% | ||
Edwards and Treen both "jabbed consistently at corruption and in efficiency in government and promised to shore up the state's financial condition."[1]
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.[1]
If Treen had been elected, he would have been the first Republican occupant of the Louisiana governorship since 1877.[1]
| 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% | |||
Louisiana Secretary of State.Primary Election Returns, 1971
