The 1971-72 governor’s election is one of the most historic elections in Louisiana history for a number of reasons. It’s when the late-Gov. Edwin  W. Edwards won his first of an unprecedented four terms and when Republicans became a force in state politics.

Democrats controlled much of state government at the time and Republicans conducted most of their business at party caucuses. However, when the late-Dave Treen became the GOP candidate for governor in 1971 it marked the beginning of Republican Party primaries.

The GOP started building its party at that time and it now has firm control of the Louisiana Legislature. Much of the credit for that goes to Edwin Edwards and Treen, but first some other history.

The election of Edwards was the first time someone from the southern part of the state had been elected governor since Sam Jones of Lake Charles had served from 1940 to 1944.

Edwards and former U.S. Sen. J. Bennett Johnson were the top  two vote-getters in the Nov. 6, 1971, Democratic  primary. The Associated Press two days later said the two runoff candidates marked the time when Louisiana “shed its crusty heritage and made a break for reform.”

The Democratic primary also marked the last hurrah for some well-known politicians at the time. They included Gillis Long and Speedy Long, two fourth cousins of Huey “Kingfish” Long, and singer Jimmie Davis who had served two terms as governor (1944-48, 1960-64).

The Democratic runoff election was one of the closest in state history. Edwards defeated Johnston by only 4,488 votes. Meanwhile, Treen became the Republican nominee when he won the first Republican gubernatorial closed primary election ever held in Louisiana.

Edwards was his usual confident self, saying he could defeat Treen “without moving a muscle.” The AP said Edwards felt he wasn’t being pressed by Treen, “although the Republican candidate mounted the stiffest challenge to Democratic gubernatorial superiority in recent Louisiana history.”

The final vote was Edwards, 638,789, and Treen, 478,515 (43%). The AP said Treen’s race for Louisiana governor was the best by a member of his party in 100 years. However, eight years earlier Republican Charlton Lyons polled 39% of the vote in his gubernatorial race against Democratic Gov. John McKeithen.

Treen said the GOP made significant progress with young people and that was an encouraging sign. And he added, “Look I got more than 400,000 votes and we have only 38,000 registered Republicans.”

Two other election results were significant. The AP reported the next Louisiana Legislature would have more Republicans and more Blacks than at any other time in modern history.

Now, back to why Edwards and Treen both deserve credit for the growing influence of Republicans in state government. Treen said after his loss to Edwards that the GOP could build up its own ranks but the political system was against any significant increase in numbers.

“To do that,” he said, “we’re going to have to have a true open primary system or we’re going to have to elect a Republican in a major office.”

Thanks to strong support from Edwards, Treen got the open primary he was talking about that still exists today. Edwards wasn’t trying to help Republicans but trying to help himself and other Democrats.

James Gill with nola.com said of Edwards in a 2006 column, “His motive was not entirely selfless. He had won the Democratic nomination in a grueling runoff, which made him a lead-pipe cinch to become governor, but still had to go out and campaign some more before whipping Republican Dave Treen in the general election.”

Another writer for nola.com said the open primary allowed Edwards to return to the governor’s mansion after a single (1975) election.

Former Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter said, “Ironically, it helped support the growth of the Republican Party enormously. Before that, everyone thought they had to register as a Democrat.”

Gill said the Republican resurgence was evident when Edwards, who was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in 1979, was succeeded by Treen.

Democrats still outnumber Republicans in Louisiana but many of them are voting for Republican candidates.

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My MEMORY failed me. I didn’t remember in Wednesday’s column that Democrat Richard Ieyoub was a Lake Charles candidate for governor in 2003. The former Calcasieu Parish district attorney, state attorney general, and state commissioner of conservation came in third behind Kathleen Blanco, who won the general election, and Bobby Jindal.

Charles “Chuck” Jackson Jr. of Vallejo, California, called to tell me Gale Berry of Lake Charles was a candidate for governor. He thought it was in 1960, but I couldn’t verify his candidacy.

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