2007 Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election

Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary or the nonpartisan blanket 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. Texas uses this same format for its special elections. In this election, incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Mitch Landrieu received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, so no run-off election was held.^[1]

On election day, October 20, 2007, incumbent Democratic lieutenant governor Mitch Landrieu defeated his foremost opponent Republican candidate and country music singer Sammy Kershaw by a margin of 325,813 votes, thereby retaining Democratic control over the office of lieutenant governor. Landrieu was sworn in for his second term on January 14, 2008.^[2]