1944 Louisiana gubernatorial election
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![]() Parish results Davis: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Morgan: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Louisiana |
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The 1944 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held in two rounds on January 18 and February 29, 1944. Like most
Louisiana's constitution did not allow incumbent governor
Louisiana's Longite faction desired a return to power after being defeated in 1940. Huey Long's brother Earl had ambitions to return as governor, and began to prepare for a campaign. But Long failed to gain the support of New Orleans mayor Robert Maestri, whose Old Regular machine was seen as an essential component of any victorious Longite candidate. Instead, Maestri threw his support behind Lewis L. Morgan, an elderly politician from Covington whose unexciting campaign found little resonance with voters. Long had to satisfy himself with running for Lieutenant Governor on Morgan's ticket.
Other candidates included
Results of First Primary
Candidate | Votes received | Percent |
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Jimmie H. Davis
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167,434 | 34.93% |
Lewis L. Morgan | 131,682 | 27.47% |
Jimmy Morrison | 76,081 | 15.87% |
Dudley J. LeBlanc | 40,392 | 8.43% |
Sam S. Caldwell | 34,335 | 7.16% |
Ernest Clements | 20,404 | 4.26% |
Vincent Moseley | 7,385 | 1.54% |
Lee Lanier | 1,641 | 0.34% |
LeBlanc and Morrison each won a handful of parishes in their respective bases in south Louisiana. Morgan did poorly in much of the state aside from the Long stronghold of
Results of Second Primary
Candidate | Votes received | Percent |
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Jimmie H. Davis
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251,228 | 53.55% |
Lewis L. Morgan | 217,915 | 46.45% |
In the second primary, Morgan maintained much of his support, but Davis was able to pick up many of the votes of candidates defeated in the first primary, particularly in south Louisiana and New Orleans. Davis won with a comfortable majority and became governor.
Sources
Michael L. Kurtz and Morgan D. Peoples. Earl K. Long: The Saga of Uncle Earl and Louisiana Politics, 1990.
Louisiana Secretary of State. Compilation of Primary Election Results of the Democratic Party of the State of Louisiana, 1944.