The 2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on October 22 with 10 candidates competing in a nonpartisan blanket primary. Incumbent Republican

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives a ...

was elected to a second term as

governor of Louisiana A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Since he received an outright majority of the vote in the blanket primary, a runoff election that would have occurred on November 19 was unnecessary. , this was the last time a Republican was elected Governor of Louisiana and the last time the winning candidate won every single parish in a statewide election.

Background

Elections in Louisiana, with the exception of

U.S. presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not direc ...

s (and

congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

races beginning in 2008 and ending after the 2010 midterm election), follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle 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. This scenario occurred in the 7th District congressional race in 1996, when Democrats Chris John and Hunter Lundy made the runoff for the open seat, and in 1999, when Republicans Suzanne Haik Terrell and Woody Jenkins made the runoff for Commissioner of Elections.

Candidates

On December 10, 2008, Jindal indicated that he would not run for president in 2012, saying he would focus on his reelection and that this would make transitioning to a national campaign difficult, though he later attempted to leave himself the opportunity to change his mind in the future. Minister Dan Northcutt (I) was the only declared challenger to Jindal, but he eventually dropped out of the race.
On October 22, Caroline Fayard's name surfaced on talk radio, talk-radio program ''Think Tank with Garland Robinette'', as a potential competitor for Jindal in his reelection campaign. The discussants cited Jindal's high approval ratings and already in-the-bank $7 million campaign fund as unapproachable assets for Democrats other than Fayard, who at the time of the program was seeking the office of

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in a special election runoff against Republican secretary of state Jay Dardenne.

Republicans

, incumbent Governor

Democrats

Announced

* Cary Deaton, attorney * Tara Hollis, special education teacher * Androniki "Niki Bird" Papazoglakis, director for

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

-based victim advocacy group * Ivo "Trey" Roberts, high school teacher

Declined

* Al Ater, former Louisiana secretary of state * Kathleen Blanco, former governor * Caroline Fayard, attorney and Louisiana state elections, 2010#Lieutenant Governor, 2010 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Louisiana * John Georges, businessman, 2007 Independent candidate for governor, unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of New Orleans in New Orleans mayoral election, 2010, 2010 * Robert M. Marionneaux, state senator

Ineligible

* Edwin Edwards, former four-term governor. Wanted to contest election following 10-year prison term for racketeering and illegally selling casino licenses, but was not pardoned
/ref>

Libertarian

* Scott Lewis, former candidate for Louisiana secretary of state

Independents

* David Blanchard, former employee of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals * Leonard "Lenny" Bollingham, Computer Engineer & Businessman * Ron Caesar * William Robert "Bob" Lang, unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2010, 2010

Background

Candidates

Republicans

Democrats

Announced

Declined

Ineligible

Libertarian

Independents

Dropped out

General election

Predictions

Results

See also

References

External links