In the early days of the campaign, the conventional wisdom of political analysts was that the race would be a three-way contest between Morrison, Kennon, and Gillis Long.

Some observers theorized that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which occurred just days before the primary election, may have had a significant impact on the results.

Jackson was the vocal segregationist among the five candidates, and Kennon discussed "state sovereignty", which some saw as a code word for segregation.

Jackson's supporters were also believed in many cases to have been previous backers of the 1959 segregationist gubernatorial hopeful, William M. Rainach of Claiborne Parish.

In the runoff, McKeithen echoed the racist tactics of former governor Jimmie Davis in the 1960 campaign, charging that Morrison was supported by an NAACP bloc vote.

He likewise borrowed Earl Long's criticisms of Morrison as a toupee-wearing city slicker out of touch with rural voters.

In the race for lieutenant governor, C. C. Aycock, the incumbent, ran successfully as an "Independent" Democrat, meaning that he was allied with no gubernatorial candidate.

McKeithen overcame the conservative Republican Charlton Lyons, a Shreveport oilman, in the first seriously contested Louisiana gubernatorial general election since Reconstruction.