1979 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election

←  1975 October 27, 1979 (first round) December 8, 1979 (runoff) 1983  →

Candidate Robert Louis Freeman Sr. Jim Donelon Jesse Monroe Knowles Party Democratic Democratic Democratic First round 546,837 43.00% 328,907 25.86% 283,256 22.27% Runoff 679,032 51.66% 635,466 48.34% Eliminated

Lieutenant Governor before election Jimmy Fitzmorris Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor Robert Louis Freeman Sr. Democratic

The 1979 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on December 8, 1979, in order to elect the lieutenant governor of Louisiana. Democratic candidate and incumbent member of the Louisiana House of Representatives Robert Louis Freeman Sr. defeated fellow Democratic candidate Jim Donelon in the Runoff election.

Contents

• Background
• Primary election
• Results
• Runoff election
• Results 2
• References

Background

This was the first lieutenant gubernatorial election held after the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978. ^[1] Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary or the nonpartisan blanket primary. 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. Texas uses this same format for its special elections. In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 27, 1979. The runoff was held on December 8, 1979. ^[2]

Primary election

On election day, October 27, 1979, Democratic candidates Robert Louis Freeman Sr. and Jim Donelon received the most votes and thus advanced to a runoff election on December 8. ^[3]

Runoff election

On election day, December 8, 1979, Democratic candidate Robert Louis Freeman Sr. defeated fellow Democratic candidate Jim Donelon by a margin of 43,566 votes, thereby retaining Democratic control over the office of lieutenant governor. Freeman was sworn in as the 47th Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana on March 10, 1980. ^[4]

References