The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1956 was held on January 17, 1956. The 1956 election saw the election of Earl K. Long to his second full term as Governor of Louisiana. He received over 50% of the vote, defeating his opponents so soundly that no runoff vote was needed.

Background

Like most Southern states between Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral
support. This meant that the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 primary held on this date was the real contest over who would be governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

.

Candidates

Outgoing Governor Robert F. Kennon

Robert F. Kennon

Robert Floyd Kennon, Sr., known as Bob Kennon , was the 48th Governor of Louisiana, serving from 1952-1956. He failed to win a second non-consecutive term in the 1963 Democratic primary....

 was constitutionally barred from succeeding himself. The candidates running to replace him were:

• Earl K. Long of Winnfield
  Winnfield, Louisiana
  Winnfield is a city in and the parish seat of Winn Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,749 at the 2000 census. It has long been associated with the Long faction of the Louisiana Democratic Party and was home to three governors of Louisiana.-Geography:Winnfield is located at ...
  
  , the head of the state's Longite faction, who has previously been governor from 1939 to 1940 and from 1948 to 1952.

• deLesseps Morrison, mayor of New Orleans since 1946. The 1956 election was the first of Morrison's three failed bids for governor.

• Fred Preaus
  Fred Preaus
  Frederick T. Preaus, known as Fred Preaus , was a businessman and politician in the U.S. state of Louisiana, a native of Farmerville, the seat of Union Parish near the Arkansas state line...
  
  , a car dealer and former member of the Farmerville
  Farmerville, Louisiana
  Farmerville is a town in and the parish seat of Union Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,808 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area...
  
   Town Council, had been Director of Highways under Governor Kennon, and received Kennon's support.

• Francis Grevemberg
  Francis Grevemberg
  Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....
  
   of Lafayette
  Lafayette, Louisiana
  Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
  
   was known for his high-profile gambling raids as State Police Superintendent. Grevemberg campaigned on his reputation for integrity, but his gambling crackdown had alienated too many people for him to receive much support.

• James M. McLemore, an Alexandria
  Alexandria, Louisiana
  Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
  
   cattleman, ran as a segregationist candidate in his second straight gubernatorial bid.

Campaign

Long's campaign promises included spending increases to fund health, education, and other social programs. He made these promises on an extensive tour of the state, stopping in nearly every town to deliver theatrical speeches mocking his opponents. The acerbic Long attacked Morrison with particular enthusiasm, mocking his toupee and fancy suits and calling him "as slick as a peeled onion," out of touch with residents of small towns and rural areas. Long also mocked his unusual first name: "Ole De la Soups is the only man that can talk out of both sides of his mouth, whistle, and strut all at once." In addition to his usual base, Long also won support from corrupt rural sheriffs who were angry at their loss of gambling revenues after Kennon's reforms and Grevemberg's raids.

Despite the reluctance of Morrison's own Crescent City Democratic Association, the New Orleans mayor was overly optimistic at his chances. Morrison had expected the support of Governor Kennon, but did not get it; Morrison had endorsed Kennon's opponent Hale Boggs

Hale Boggs

Thomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...

 in the first primary of the 1952 election

Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1952

The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1952 was held in two rounds on January 15 and February 19, 1952. Like most Southern states between Reconstruction and the civil rights era, Louisiana's Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in terms of electoral support.This meant that the two Democratic...

. Long encouraged false optimism in Morrison's campaign by having his rural supporters write to the New Orleans mayor urging him to run for governor. This false rural support never materialized in the actual election; Morrison was too unfamiliar with the state's rural politics and fought a perception of urban sophistication that did not play well in the country. His emphasis on his record as mayor and his promises of economic development found little resonance with rural voters.

Results

Democratic Party Primary, January 17

Candidate	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Earl Long Earl Long Earl Kemp Long was an American politician and the 45th Governor of Louisiana for three non-consecutive terms. Long termed himself the "last of the red hot poppas" of politics, referring to his stump-speaking skills...	421,681	51.4%
deLesseps Morrison	191,576	23.4%
Fred Preaus Fred Preaus Frederick T. Preaus, known as Fred Preaus , was a businessman and politician in the U.S. state of Louisiana, a native of Farmerville, the seat of Union Parish near the Arkansas state line...	95,955	11.7%
Francis Grevemberg Francis Grevemberg Francis Carroll Grevemberg , was the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police from 1952 to 1955, best remembered for his fight against organized crime....	62,309	7.6%
James M. McLemore	48,188	5.9%

Earl Long won 62 of the state's 64 parishes; only Orleans Parish went to Morrison. The support of local political boss Leander Perez

Leander Perez

Leander Henry Perez, Sr. , was the Democratic political boss of Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes in southeastern Louisiana during the middle third of the 20th century. Officially, he served as a district judge, later as district attorney, and as president of the Plaquemines Parish Commission...

 won Plaquemines Parish for Fred Preaus, who lost his own Union Parish

Union Parish, Louisiana

Union Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Farmerville....

. Long was intensely proud of his first-primary victory, exclaiming "Huey never done that!"

Sources

Haas, Edward F. DeLesseps S. Morrison and the Image of Reform: New Orleans Politics, 1946-60. LSU Press, 1974.

Kurtz, Michael and Morgan Peoples. Earl K. Long: The Saga of Uncle Earl and Louisiana Politics. LSU Press, 1990.

Louisiana Secretary of State. Democratic Primary Election Returns, 1956.