Louisiana held the first round of its jungle primary on October 4 and the runoff on November 15.

This was the last time a party made net gains in this cycle of gubernatorial elections until 2019.

It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

As of 2023, this is the most recent Louisiana gubernatorial election in which the first-round winner did not win the runoff.

Former Republican National Committee chairman Haley Barbour defeated incumbent Democrat Ronnie Musgrove by a margin of 6.78%.