Louisiana 2011 Election Results

Open Primary, October 22, 2011

Louisiana held its open primary on October 22, 2011, deciding 119 legislative seats and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship. Candidates who won a majority were elected outright; the other races went to a November runoff. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans held every statewide office and widened the Senate majority they had won only that February, when a special election gave the GOP control of the chamber for the first time since Reconstruction. The Senate went from 22-17 to 24-15, and Republicans kept the House, which ended at 58-45-2.
• Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) won a second term outright in October, a landslide with little opposition: he took about two-thirds of the vote, and Tara Hollis (D) finished a distant second with about 18%. When the new Legislature convened in January, Charles Kleckley (R) was elected House speaker as the only nominee. Jindal's pick for Senate president, John Alario (R), a Democrat until 2010, got the job, a choice that disappointed some conservatives.
• The two competitive statewide races were all-Republican. Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R) beat Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser (R) by about 6 points after a campaign in which the two accused each other of lying. Secretary of State Tom Schedler (R) won a full term by beating then-House Speaker Jim Tucker (R) by about 8,400 votes. Attorney General Buddy Caldwell (R) and Treasurer John Kennedy (R) were unopposed, and Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain (R) and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon (R) each won by more than 30 points.
• Two Republican incumbents met in House District 94, where Nick Lorusso (R) beat John LaBruzzo (R) by about 14 points in October, and Sen. Ben Nevers (D) held Senate District 12 by about 350 votes over Beth Mizell (R). The closest runoff was in the open House District 17, which Marcus Hunter (D) won by three votes. Other incumbents lost in the November runoffs:
  • Terry Brown (I) unseated Billy R. Chandler (R) by about 550 votes in House District 22.
  • Kenny Ray Cox (D) beat Rick Nowlin (R) by about 700 votes in House District 23, after trailing him in October.
  • Jay Morris (R) beat Sam Little (R) by about 18 points in House District 14.
  • Vincent Pierre (D), a political newcomer, beat Rickey Hardy (D) by about 420 votes in House District 44.
  • Gregory Tarver (D), who held the seat from 1984 to 2004, unseated Lydia Jackson (D) by about 870 votes in Senate District 39.
• Voters approved 3 of the 5 constitutional amendments on the October ballot, including Amendment 1 (steering tobacco settlement money to the TOPS scholarship program), and rejected Amendment 4 (Budget Stabilization Fund deposits) and Amendment 5 (sales of tax-delinquent property). On the November runoff ballot, voters approved a different measure, also numbered Amendment 1, which bars new taxes or fees on the sale or transfer of real estate.

Legislature

• House (105 seats): 46 D, 57 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 45 D, 58 R, 2 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (39 seats): 17 D, 22 R before the election, 15 D, 24 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Statewide races

Legislative races

Ballot measures

Runoffs, November 19, 2011

Louisiana held runoffs on November 19, 2011, deciding 25 legislative seats.

Legislature

• House (105 seats): 46 D, 57 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 45 D, 58 R, 2 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (39 seats): 17 D, 22 R before the election, 15 D, 24 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Legislative races

Ballot measures