1983 Louisiana gubernatorial election

1983 Louisiana gubernatorial election

← 1979 October 22, 1983 1987 →

Nominee Edwin Edwards Dave Treen Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,002,798 585,692 Percentage 62.31% 36.39%

Parish results Edwards:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Treen:      50–60%

Governor before election Dave Treen Republican Elected Governor Edwin Edwards Democratic

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Government
v t e

The 1983 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held to elect the governor of Louisiana. Incumbent Republican governor Dave Treen lost re-election to a second term, defeated by former Democratic governor Edwin Edwards. Edwards became the first governor since Earl Long to win non-consecutive terms. He also became the first to serve three full terms. This is the last time an incumbent governor of Louisiana lost re-election.

Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party, and voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. A runoff would be held if no candidate received an absolute majority of the vote during the primary election. On October 12, 1983, Edwards and Treen took the two highest popular vote counts, but a runoff election was not held as Edwards won over 50% of the vote in the primary.^[1]