Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1987

← 1983 October 24, 1987 1991 →
Candidate Buddy Roemer Edwin Edwards Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 516,128 434,802 Percentage 33.1% 27.9%   Candidate Bob Livingston Billy Tauzin Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 287,770 154,444 Percentage 18.5% 9.9%   Candidate Jim Brown Party Democratic Popular vote 138,824 Percentage 8.9%
Results by Parish. Red denotes parishes won by Buddy Roemer, blue denotes parishes won by Edwin Edwards, green denotes parishes won by Bob Livingston and orange denotes parishes won by Billy Tauzin
Governor before election Edwin Edwards Democratic Elected Governor Buddy Roemer Democratic

Edwin Edwards
Democratic

Buddy Roemer
Democratic

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

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.

First voting round, October 24

Runoff did not occur due to Edwards withdrawing

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