1968 Louisiana gubernatorial election

1967 Louisiana Democratic gubernatorial primary

← 1964 November 4, 1967 1972 →
 
Candidate John McKeithen John Rarick
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 836,304 179,846
Percentage 80.64% 17.34%

Parish results
McKeithen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

Governor before election

John McKeithen
Democratic

Elected Governor

John McKeithen
Democratic

The 1968 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on February 4, 1968. Incumbent Democratic governor John McKeithen was re-elected to a second term in office. This was the first election in which the governor was eligible for re-election to a second consecutive term, following a 1966 constitutional referendum. It was also the first election after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which brought thousands of African Americans into the electorate for the first time.

The 1967 primary election resulted in the overwhelming re-nomination of John McKeithen to his second consecutive term as governor, the result of a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1966, which allows Louisiana governors to serve two back-to-back terms.[1]

On November 4, 1967, McKeithen won the Democratic primary with 80.64% of the vote. At this time the Louisiana Republican Party rarely fielded candidates (though they had in 1964), so the Democratic nomination was tantamount to victory. McKeithen won the general election without an opponent. As of 2023, this is the last time a Democratic candidate carried all 64 parishes.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1967 Democratic primary
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John McKeithen (incumbent) 836,304 80.64%
Democratic John Rarick 179,846 17.34%
Democratic Cy D. F. Courtney 8,698 0.84%
Democratic Frank Joseph Ahern 7,152 0.69%
Democratic Addison Roswell Thompson 5,102 0.49%
Total votes 1,037,102 100.00%

General election

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This is the most recent time to date that there was no Republican running in the contest for governor. Hence, John McKeithen was re-elected unopposed.

Sources

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Louisiana Secretary of State. Primary Election Returns, 1967

References

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  1. ^ "Louisiana Governors 1877–present". Archived from the original on August 27, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012.