The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 1971–1972 was held in three rounds. The two Democratic Party primaries were held on November 6 and December 8, 1971. The general election was held on February 1, 1972, in which Edwin Edwards

Edwin Edwards

Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...

 defeated Republican candidate David Treen to become Governor of Louisiana.

Early in the campaign, conventional wisdom of many political analysts predicted that the race's top candidates would be Gillis Long, Jimmie Davis, and C.C. "Taddy" Aycock. However, the two candidates to make the runoff, Edwin Edwards and J. Bennett Johnston, were relative newcomers to the Louisiana political scene.

Results

First Democratic Party primary, November 6, 1971

Candidate	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Edwin Edwards Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...	276,397	23.54%
J. Bennett Johnston	208,830	17.79%
Gillis William Long Gillis William Long Gillis William Long was a Democratic U.S. Representative from Louisiana and member of the Long family. Long served seven non-consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives but placed third in two campaigns for the Democratic gubernatorial nominations in 1963 and 1971...	164,276	13.99%
Jimmie H. Davis	138,756	11.82%
John G. Schwegmann John G. Schwegmann John Gerald Schwegmann, Jr., was a pioneer in the development of the modern supermarket. He owned eighteen stores in the Greater New Orleans area, based from Metairie, a large unincorporated city in Jefferson Parish...	92,072	7.84%
Clarence C. Aycock Clarence C. Aycock Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock , a conservative Democrat from Franklin in St. Mary Parish, was the only three-term lieutenant governor in modern Louisiana history. He served from 1960 to 1972. Aycock failed in his only bid for governor in the 1971 Democratic primary...	88,465	7.54%
Samuel Bell, Sr.	72,486	6.17%
Speedy O. Long Speedy O. Long Speedy Oteria Long was a Jena lawyer who was a Democratic U.S. Representative from central Louisiana between 1965 and 1973. Prior to his tenure in the since disbanded Eighth Congressional District, Speedy Long had been a member of the Louisiana state Senate...	61,359	5.23%
Frank T. Salter, Jr.	32,203	2.74%
James W. Moore James W. Moore Dr. Rev. James W. “Jim” Moore is a bestselling author of over 40 books. He is Abingdon Press' top selling author. He is an acclaimed preacher and pastor. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He served as Senior Pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church –Houston from 1984 to...	9408	0.8%
Warren J. "Puggy" Moity	8965	0.76%
David L. Chandler	7244	0.62%
Huey P. Coleman	4833	0.41%
Harold Lee Bethune II	3032	0.26%
Wilford L. Thompson, Sr.	2535	0.21%
Addison Roswell Thompson	1924	0.16%
Jimmy Strain	1258	0.11%

Republican Party Primary, November 6, 1971

Candidate	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
David C. Treen David C. Treen David Conner "Dave" Treen, Sr. , was an American attorney and politician from Mandeville, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana – the first Republican Governor of the U.S. state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. He was the first Republican in modern times to have served in the U.S...	9,732	92.06%
Robert Ross Robert Ross Robert Ross may refer to:*Robert Ross, 5th Lord Ross , Scottish nobleman*Robert Ross, 9th Lord Ross , Scottish nobleman*Robert Ross , British botanist...	839	7.94%

Second Democratic Party primary, December 18, 1971

Candidate	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Edwin Edwards Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...	584,262	50.19%
J. Bennett Johnston	579,774	49.81%

General election, February 1, 1972

Candidate	Party	Votes received	Percentage of votes cast
Edwin Edwards Edwin Edwards Edwin Washington Edwards served as the Governor of Louisiana for four terms , twice as many terms as any other Louisiana chief executive has served. Edwards was also Louisiana's first Roman Catholic governor in the 20th century...	Democrat	641,146	57.2%
David Treen	Republican	480,424	42.8%