Louisiana primary

The so-called Louisiana primary is the common term for the Louisiana general election for local, state, and congressional offices. On election day, all candidates for the same office appear together on the ballot, often including several candidates from each major party. The candidate who receives a simple majority is elected. Only if no candidate wins a simple majority in the first round, there is a runoff one month later between the top two candidates to determine the winner.

The Louisiana primary is similar to the top two primary currently used in Washington and California since in both models, all candidates regardless of party identification run against each other in the first round. However, the top two system does not elect a candidate in the first round, but merely advances the two candidates to the general election. The timing of the two systems is also different. The first round in the Louisiana primary is held on or near election day in November and the runoff is about a month later, while the top two primary holds the second round on election day in November and holds the first round months earlier. The Louisiana primary is not a merely a runoff system, either, since a runoff might not be necessary under the Louisiana system.

First Ballot, October 19, 1991

Second Ballot, November 16, 1991

Despite Republicans collectively attaining a majority of the support in the 1st ballot, the Democratic candidate Edwards won decisively on the second ballot. A factor in this seemingly anomalous result may have been tactical voting, which has been observed in some two-round electoral systems. On the other hand, a major contributor to Edwards' markedly increased vote may well have been the fact that Roemer endorsed Edwards prior to the second round. Additionally, Roemer had originally been elected to the governorship as a Democrat, having only changed his party affiliation in 1991. Under this system, party label is self-identifying, which means that David Duke was able to declare himself a Republican candidate without the consent of the Republican Party. Edwin Edwards' win is most likely attributed to the fact that David Duke was a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and thus was unpalatable to mainstream voters, in spite of allegations of corruption during Edwards' first three terms. Evidence of this exists in the unofficial campaign slogan "Vote for the Lizard, not the Wizard." Another bumper sticker cited by The Wall Street Journal is: "Vote for the crook, it's important." Polls had shown that Roemer could have defeated either Edwards or Duke if he had made it to the second round.

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