1952 Louisiana gubernatorial election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1952 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held in two rounds on January 15 and February 19, 1952. Like most Southern states between the Reconstruction Era and the Civil Rights Movement, Louisiana's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral support.
 | |||||||||||||||||||
February 19, 1952
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
 Parish results Kennon: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% >90% Spaht: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
This meant that the two Democratic Party primary elections held on these dates were the real contest over who would be governor of Louisiana. The 1952 election saw the defeat of Long candidate Carlos Spaht, and the election of Robert F. Kennon as governor.
In the low-turnout general election held on April 22, 1952, Kennon defeated Harrison Bagwell, a Baton Rouge lawyer and only the second Louisiana Republican gubernatorial nominee since Reconstruction. Kennon received 118,723 votes (96 percent) to Bagwell's 4,958 votes (4 percent).[1]
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Hale Boggs, U.S. Representative from New Orleans
- Bill Dodd, Lieutenant Governor and former State Representative from Allen Parish
- Lucille May Grace, Register of State Lands
- Robert F. Kennon, judge of the Second Circuit Court of Appeal and candidate for governor in 1948
- Dudley J. LeBlanc, State Senator from Acadia Parish
- Cliff Liles, Lake Charles resident
- James M. McLemore, Alexandria cattle rancher
- Kermit Parker, New Orleans pharmacist and reform school administrator
- Carlos Spaht, judge of the Nineteenth District Court and former East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney
Results
The primary election was held on January 15.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Carlos Spaht | 173,987 | 22.84% | |
| Democratic | Robert F. Kennon | 163,434 | 21.46% | |
| Democratic | Hale Boggs | 142,542 | 18.71% | |
| Democratic | James M. McLemore | 116,405 | 15.28% | |
| Democratic | Bill Dodd | 90,925 | 11.94% | |
| Democratic | Dudley J. LeBlanc | 62,906 | 8.26% | |
| Democratic | Kermit Parker | 5,470 | 0.72% | |
| Democratic | Lucille May Grace | 4,832 | 0.63% | |
| Democratic | Cliff Liles | 1,233 | 0.16% | |
| Total votes | 761,734 | 100.00% | ||
Runoff
Because no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers was held on February 19.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Robert F. Kennon | 482,302 | 61.44% |  39.98 | |
| Democratic | Carlos Spaht | 302,743 | 38.56% | 17.72 | |
| Total votes | 785,045 | 100.00% | |||
General election
Candidates
- Harrison Bagwell, Baton Rouge lawyer (Republican)
- Robert F. Kennon, judge of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal (Democratic)
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Robert F. Kennon | 118,723 | 95.99% | ||
| Republican | Harrison Bagwell | 4,958 | 4.01% | ||
| Total votes | 123,681 | 100.00% | |||
