Louisiana's 2007 state elections were held on October 20, 2007, with runoff elections held on November 17. All statewide elected offices were up, as well as all seats in the Louisiana State Legislature

Louisiana State Legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...

.

Republicans were successful in electing the country's first Indian-American governor, Congressman Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal

Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....

. The issue of the state's response to Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 played a large part in the decision of incumbent governor Kathleen Blanco

Kathleen Blanco

Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was the 54th Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008. She was the first woman to be elected to the office of governor of Louisiana....

 to retire rather than seek a second term in office. Term limits also caused a large number of retirements in the state legislature, which proved to be a benefit to Republicans, who made gains in both houses.

Governor

Bobby Jindal was elected outright with 54%, over a number of other contenders. He was voted Louisiana's new governor.

Lieutenant governor

Democratic incumbent Mitch Landrieu

Mitch Landrieu

Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...

 had the best showing of any Democrat running statewide, winning 56.6% of the vote. He was opposed by two Republicans, country musician Sammy Kershaw

Sammy Kershaw

Samuel Paul "Sammy" Kershaw is an American country music artist. A third cousin of Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw and ex-husband of Lorrie Morgan, he has been active in country music since 1991. He has released ten studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications...

 and State Representative Gary Beard

Gary Beard

Gary James Beard is a former conservative Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from East Baton Rouge Parish who was handily defeated in his bid for lieutenant governor in the jungle primary held on October 20, 2007. Beard ran third in the race with 130,935...

, and by two Independents, Norris "Spanky" Gros Jr. and Thomas D. Kates.

Open Primary Results

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Attorney general

Incumbent Attorney General Charles Foti

Charles Foti

Charles Carmen Foti, Jr. , is a former Democratic Attorney General of the U.S. state of Louisiana, United States. He served as his state's chief legal officer for a single term from 2004 to 2008....

 was challenged by both a Democrat, James "Buddy" Caldwell, and a Republican, Royal Alexander

Royal Alexander

Richard Royal Alexander is an attorney from Shreveport, Louisiana. In 2007, he was the Republican-endorsed candidate for Louisiana Attorney General. A first-time candidate for public office, Alexander finished second to James D. "Buddy" Caldwell, a Democrat, in the nonpartisan blanket primary...

. Foti placed third in the open primary, leading to a runoff between Caldwell and Alexander, in which Caldwell easily won.

Open Primary Results

Runoff Results

Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry

Longtime incumbent Democrat Bob Odom

Bob Odom

Robert Fulton "Bob" Odom is the former Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry in the U.S. state of Louisiana, who served from 1980-2008. Now in the private sector, Odom operates a consulting company to work with farmers on a statewide and national basis. He offers input on farm...

 faced his toughest re-election campaign ever, winning only 41% of the vote and ending up into a runoff with Republican State Representative Michael G. Strain

Michael G. Strain

Michael Gene Strain, known as Mike Strain , is the first Republican ever elected to the position of Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry.A former member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from Covington in St...

. Odom withdrew from the runoff, making Strain the winner by default.

Open Primary Results

Commissioner of Insurance

Republican Jim Donelon

Jim Donelon

James J. "Jim" Donelon has been the Republican insurance commissioner of Louisiana since February 15, 2006.Donelon won a full-term as commissioner in the October 20, 2007 nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished with 606,534 votes and defeated three opponents, the closest of whom, Democrat Jim...

, who was elected to the Insurance Commissioner post in a 2006 special election, defeated both Democrat Jim Crowley

Jim Crowley

James Harold "Jim" Crowley was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback from 1922 to 1924. After a brief career as a professional football player, Crowley turned to coaching...

 and Republicans Robert Lansden and Jerilyn Schneider-Kneale to win a full term.

Open Primary Results

Secretary of State

Republican incumbent Jay Dardenne

Jay Dardenne

John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr. , has been Louisiana's Republican lieutenant governor since November 22, 2010. He won a special election to the position held in conjunction with the regular November 2 general election. At the time, Dardenne was Louisiana secretary of state...

, after winning a special election in 2006, easily defeated Democrat R. Wooley and Libertarian Scott A. Lewis III to win a full term.

Open Primary Results

State Treasurer

Incumbent John Neely Kennedy, a Democrat who switched to the Republican party in 2007, was re-elected unopposed.

Louisiana Senate

In the open primary election, Democrats won a total of 22 seats, including both seats won outright and runoffs between two Democrats. Republicans won 12 seats outright with one runoff. In the runoff elections between a Democrat and a Republican, each party won two seats, making the post-election composition of the Senate 24 Democrats and 15 Republicans. Following the elections, Democratic State Sen. Robert Adley

Robert Adley (Louisiana politician)

Robert Roy Adley , is a businessman and politician from Benton, Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the Louisiana State Senate...

switched to the Republican party, making the Senate 23 Democrats and 16 Republicans http://www.ktbs.com/news/Bossier-lawmaker-Robert-Adley-switches-to-Republican-Party-7062/.

House of Representatives

In the open primary, Democrats won a guaranteed 45 seats: 34 outright, with 11 runoffs between two Democrats. Republicans won a guaranteed 42 seats: 30 outright, with 12 runoffs between two Republicans. One independent was also elected. The remaining 17 seats went to runoffs, including 16 between a Democrat and a Republican and one between a Democrat and an Independent. Democrats and Republicans each won eight of these seats, with the last going to an Independent, giving the Democrats a slim 53 to 50, with two Independents, majority in the House of Representatives.

External links

• Election Results