This was the last gubernatorial election held before the adoption of the Louisiana primary in 1978.

[1] Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system.

Edwards received 430,095 votes in it, according to figures recorded by the Louisiana Secretary of State's office.

The law was later rewritten to where the unopposed runoff was not required if a candidate won an outright majority in the primary.

This happened in the 1983 election, when Edwards won a third non-consecutive term over Republican incumbent David C. Treen.