Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987
Louisiana
October 24, 1987

 
Nominee Buddy Roemer Edwin Edwards Bob Livingston
Party Democratic Democratic Republican
Popular vote 516,128 434,802 287,770
Percentage 33.15% 27.93% 18.49%

 
Nominee Billy Tauzin James H. "Jim" Brown
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 154,444 138,824
Percentage 9.92% 8.92%

Parish Results

Governor before election

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Elected Governor

Buddy Roemer
Democratic

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1987 resulted in the election of Buddy Roemer as governor of Louisiana.

Background

Elections in Louisiana, with the exception of presidential elections, follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary. Candidates of 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 are sometimes members of the same party. In this election, the first round of voting was held on October 24, 1987. In second place, Edwin Edwards was entitled to face Roemer in the runoff, but he withdrew from the race after the first round of voting. Buddy Roemer, elected as a Democrat, switched his party affiliation to Republican during his term as governor.

Results

Parishes won by Gubernatorial Candidates in the October 24, 1987 Election.
  Buddy Roemer (37)
  Edwin Edwards (20)
  Billy Tauzin (4)
  Bob Livingston (3)

First voting round, October 24

Candidate Party affiliation Votes received Percent
Buddy Roemer Democrat 516,078 33.15%
Edwin Edwards Democrat 437,801 27.93%
Robert "Bob" Livingston Republican 287,780 18.49%
Billy Tauzin Democrat 154,079 9.92%
James H. "Jim" Brown Democrat 138,223 8.92%
Speedy O. Long Democrat 18,738 1.20%
Earl J. Amedee Democrat 3,767 0.24%
Ken "Cousin Ken" Lewis Democrat 2,264 0.15%

Runoff did not occur due to Edwards withdrawing

Preceded by
1983 gubernatorial election
Louisiana gubernatorial elections Succeeded by
1991 gubernatorial election

Sources

State of Louisiana. Primary and General Election Returns, 1987.