Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2015

2019 → ← 2011

2015 Louisiana Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election

Table of Contents Candidates Results Key deadlines Duties Polls Debates Campaign finance Past elections Recent news See also External links

Primary Date: October 24, 2015

General Election Date: November 21, 2015

Incumbent prior to election: Jay Dardenne

The Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on October 24, 2015, with a runoff election on November 21, 2015, because no candidate received 50 percent of the vote. Incumbent Jay Dardenne (R) was first elected in a special election in 2010 and was eligible for election in 2015. Billy Nungesser (R) was elected in 2015.

Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Candidates

General election candidates

Kip Holden
Billy Nungesser

Defeated in primary

Elbert Guillory
John Young

Incumbent

Note: Dardenne was eligible for re-election in 2015 but ran for governor of Louisiana instead.
Jay Dardenne

Results

General election

Incumbent Jay Dardenne (R) decided to run for governor of Louisiana instead of seeking re-election. Republican Billy Nungesser defeated his Democratic opponent, Kip Holden. In the same cycle, John Edwards (D) won the 2015 gubernatorial election.

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Run-off election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kip Holden	44.6%	506,578
	Republican	Billy Nungesser	55.4%	628,864
Total Votes				1,135,442
Election Results Louisiana Secretary of State.

Primary election

No candidate received an outright majority in the blanket primary election on October 24, 2015. The two candidates with the most votes, who qualified for the November 21st runoff election were Kip Holden (D) and Billy Nungesser (R).

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Blanket Primary, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Kip Holden	33.3%	360,679
	Republican	Billy Nungesser	30%	324,654
	Republican	John Young	28.9%	313,183
	Republican	Elbert Guillory	7.9%	85,460
Total Votes				1,083,976
Election Results Louisiana Secretary of State.

Key deadlines

Deadline	Event
September 8, 2015	First day for candidate filing
September 10, 2015	Last day for candidate filing
September 23, 2015	Last day for voter registration in primary
October 10, 2015	First day for early voting in primary
October 17, 2015	Last day for early voting in primary
October 20, 2015	Last day to request mail ballot in primary
October 23, 2015	Deadline for mailed ballot submission in primary
October 24, 2015	Primary election
November 7, 2015	First day for early voting in general election
November 14, 2015	Last day for early voting in general election
November 17, 2015	Last day to request mail ballot for general election
November 20, 2015	Deadline for mailed ballot submission for general election
November 21, 2015	General election (if necessary)

Voter registration

For full information about voting in Louisiana, contact the state election agency.

Voters in Louisiana can register to vote by filling out an online application. The online form can be submitted electronically if the applicant uses a driver's license as the required form of identification. Applicants can also print out their online forms and mail them to their parish registrars.

Louisiana also offers myriad locations for in-person registration up to 30 days prior to an election. These locations include parish registrars, offices of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles or the Louisiana Department of Social Services, food stamp offices and recruitment offices for any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Applicants can use their driver's licenses, birth certificates, utility bills or government-issued documents with their name and current address as valid forms of identification.

Voters must meet the following qualifications to vote in Louisiana:

• U.S. citizenship
  
• At least 18 years old by the next election
  
• Resident of Louisiana and parish indicated on registration
  
• Not under order of imprisonment for felony conviction
  
• Have not been judged "mentally incompetent" in court

Duties

The lieutenant governor exercises powers delegated to him by the governor as provided by law. The lieutenant governor also serves as governor in the event of a vacancy in the office, if the governor is unable to act as governor or is out of state.

Under the state constitution, the lieutenant governor no longer serves as ex-officio president of the Louisiana State Senate, but he is made an ex-officio member of each committee, board, and commission on which the governor serves.

Additionally, the lieutenant governor serves as commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, and has such other responsibilities and duties as the Governor shall assign.

Polls

Run-off election candidates match-up: Billy Nungesser (R) vs. Kip Holden (D)

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Poll	Kip Holden (D)	Billy Nungesser (R)	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
JMC Analytics/WVLA October 28-31, 2015	39%	40%	21%	+/-4	600
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Hypothetical primary match-ups

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
Poll	Kip Holden (D)	Billy Nungesser (R)	John Young (R)	Elbert Guillory (R)	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
MarblePort October 20-21, 2015	31.5%	22.0%	31.6%	5.5%	9.5%	+/-3.0	1,464
Triumph Campaigns September 29-30, 2015	27%	22%	27%	6%	17%	+/-2.9	1,047
Triumph Campaigns March 5, 2015	33%	23%	20%	2%	22%	+/-2.4	1,655
AVERAGES	22.88%	16.75%	19.65%	3.38%	12.13%	+/-2.08	1,041.5
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Debates

November forum
Louisiana lieutenant governor candidates Billy Nungesser (R) and Kip Holden (D) participated in a forum at the Belle of Baton Rouge Hotel, held in conjunction with the Baton Rouge Press Club.

Nungesser said that in his first days in office, he would protect the state parks and museums cut in recent budgets. He said,

“	My first plan would be to put a package together to present it to the legislature and restore some of the cuts to make sure we put our best foot forward in selling Louisiana to the world.	”
—Billy Nungesser,

Holden said he would focus on promoting and improving the state's small towns. He added,

“	A lot of people still aren't familiar with certain parts of Louisiana, so the other part would be actually going out there and begin to give people a little more pride in their community.	”
—Kip Holden,

The candidates took other questions about tourism, such as how they would attract filmmakers to Louisiana despite a cap on film tax credits and how they would persuade international airlines to fly direct from Europe to Louis Armstrong International Airport.

On film credits, Nungesser said that any entity receiving state money should provide an audited report annually. Holden said that the state should welcome filmmakers but make penalties for violations clear. Both candidates spoke positively about courting international travel.

Holden and Nungesser agreed that the state should reignite the Louisiana Seafood brand and support the seafood industry.

Campaign finance

Second quarter report (2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $1,068,667.87 and spent a total of $313,622.79 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on September 24, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
John Young	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$2,046,124.28	$348,397.69	$113,255.26	$2,251,734.76
Billy Nungesser	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$1,149,463.33	$659,673.50	$166,581.34	$1,640,422.99
Elbert Guillory	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$9,502.18	$8,896.68	$17,880.80	$518.06
Kip Holden	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$32,352.59	$51,700.00	$15,905.39	$68,147.20
Grand Total Raised					$1,068,667.87
Grand Total Spent					$313,622.79

First quarter report (2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $503,936.05 and spent a total of $1,233,364.3 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on May 4, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
John Young	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$1,812,818.02	$347,890.90	$87,318.74	$2,046,124.28
Billy Nungesser	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$2,148,751.35	$126,690.15	$1,125,978.17	$1,149,463.33
Elbert Guillory	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$1,533.71	$14,355.00	$6,386.53	$9,502.18
Kip Holden	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$31,033.45	$15,000.00	$13,680.86	$32,352.59
Grand Total Raised					$503,936.05
Grand Total Spent					$1,233,364.3

Annual report (2014)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $563,066.12 and spent a total of $183,094.98 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on February 19, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
John Young	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$1,494,781.06	$463,733.55	$141,771.09	$1,804,068.02
Billy Nungesser	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$8,920.97	$65,400	$3,883.33	$70,437.64
Elbert Guillory	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$−2,175.66	$33,932.57	$37,440.56	$−5,928.74
Richard Gallot, Jr.	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$0	$0	$0	$0
Kip Holden	Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana	$0	$0	$0	$0
Grand Total Raised					$563,066.12
Grand Total Spent					$183,094.98

Past elections

2011

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Blanket Primary, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jay Dardenne Incumbent	53.1%	504,541
	Republican	Billy Nungesser	46.9%	445,049
Total Votes				949,590
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

2010

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Special Election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Jay Dardenne	57.1%	719,271
	Democratic	Caroline Fayard	42.9%	540,649
Total Votes				1,259,920
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

2007

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Blanket Primary, 2007
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mitch Landrieu	56.6%	701,887
	Republican	Sammy Kershaw	30.3%	375,727
	Republican	Gary J. Beard	10.6%	130,876
	Nonpartisan	Norris "Spanky" Gros, Jr.	1.3%	15,965
	Nonpartisan	Thomas D. Kates	1.3%	15,555
Total Votes				1,240,010
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

2003

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Blanket Primary, 2003
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Mitch Landrieu	52.7%	674,803
	Republican	Clyde C. Holloway	19.5%	249,668
	Republican	Melinda Schwegmann	16.8%	215,402
	Republican	Kirt Bennett	8.5%	108,293
	Republican	J.F. "Rick" Ankesheiln	1.3%	17,208
	Republican	Karl E. Schorr	1.2%	15,505
Total Votes				1,280,879
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Louisiana + Lieutenant + Governor + election + 2015"

2015 Louisiana Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election News Feed

External links

Suggest a link

• Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana