Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

Louisiana Lieutenant Governor
General information
Office Type:	Partisan
Office website:	Official Link
Compensation:	$115,003
2024 FY Budget:	$10,720,397
Term limits:	None
Structure
Length of term:	4 years
Authority:	Louisiana Constitution, Article IV, The Executive Department
Selection Method:	Elected
Current Officeholder
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Billy Nungesser Republican Party Assumed office: January 11, 2016
Elections
Next election:	November 20, 2027
Last election:	November 18, 2023
Other Louisiana Executive Offices
Governor • Lieutenant Governor • Secretary of State • Attorney General • Treasurer • Superintendent of Education • Agriculture Commissioner • Insurance Commissioner • Natural Resources Commissioner • Labor Commissioner • Public Service Commission

The Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is an elected constitutional officer, the second ranking officer of the executive branch and the first officer in line to succeed the governor of Louisiana. The lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years by a majority.

Current officeholder

See also: Current Lieutenant Governors

The current Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana is Billy Nungesser (R). Nungesser assumed office in 2016.

Authority

The Louisiana Constitution establishes the office of lieutenant governor in Article IV, the Executive Department.

Under Article IV, Section 5(A):

...The executive branch shall consist of the governor, lieutenant governor...

Qualifications

State Executives
Current Governors
Gubernatorial Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
Current Lt. Governors
Lt. Governor Elections
2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014

Under Article IV, Section 2, a candidate for lieutenant governor is required to:

• have attained the age of 25 years.
• be an elector.
• have been a citizen of the United States, and
• have been a citizen of Louisiana for at least the preceding five years.

Elections

Louisiana state government organizational chart

See also: Gubernatorial election cycles by state

See also: Election of lieutenant governors

Louisiana holds off-year elections; that is, elections in off-numbered years that are neither presidential nor midterm years. Elections are held in the year after a midterm and before a presidential (e.g. 2023, 2027, 2031, and 2035). Legally, the inauguration is always held the second Monday in January after an election.

2023

See also: Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2023

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent 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.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

The following candidates ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana on October 14, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Billy Nungesser (R)	65.5	678,531
		Willie Jones (D)	20.5	211,988
		Elbert Guillory (R)	6.2	64,058
		Tami Hotard (R)	4.9	50,711
		Bruce Payton (Independent)	1.7	17,195
		Gary Rispone (Independent)	1.3	13,111

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,035,594
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Clay Schexnayder (R)
• Chester Pritchett (Independent)

2019

See also: Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2019

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent 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.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

Incumbent Billy Nungesser won election outright against Willie Jones in the primary for Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana on October 12, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Billy Nungesser (R)	68.1	884,309
		Willie Jones (D)	31.9	413,556

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,297,865
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Rao Uppu (D)

2015

See also: Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2015

There was a regularly scheduled election for lieutenant governor in 2015. Jay Dardenne (R) was eligible for re-election but ran for governor instead. The primary election took place on October 24, 2015, and a runoff election was held on November 21, 2015, because no candidate received 50 percent of the primary vote. Republican Billy Nungesser was elected to succeed Lt. Gov. Dardenne.

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.

Term limits

There are no term limits for this office.

Vacancies

Details of vacancies are addressed under Article IV, Section 15.

Should a vacancy occur in the office of lieutenant governor, the governor shall nominate a lieutenant governor, who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of the elected members of each house of the legislature. If the unexpired term exceeds one year, such person shall serve as lieutenant governor only until the office is filled as provided in Section 16(B) of this Article.

Duties

The lieutenant governor 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.

The lieutenant governor also serves as the Commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, with the power to appoint the secretary and other key positions with Senate approval.

Under the state constitution, the lieutenant governor serves as an ex-officio member of each committee, board, and commission on which the governor serves.

The governor may assign additional duties and responsibilities to the lieutenant governor.

Divisions

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for information that describes the divisions (if any exist) of a state executive office. That information for the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana has not yet been added. After extensive research we were unable to identify any relevant information on state official websites. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

State budget

See also: Louisiana state budget and finances

The Louisiana lieutenant governor's budget for fiscal year 2024 was $10,720,397.

Compensation

See also: Comparison of lieutenant gubernatorial salaries and Compensation of state executive officers

The salary of the lieutenant governor, along with the rest of Louisiana's elected executives, is determined by the Louisiana State Legislature. Article IV, Section 4 requires that changes in compensation take effect in the term after they were passed.

Louisiana Constitution, Article IV, Section 4

Compensation Section 4. Except as otherwise provided by this constitution, the compensation of each statewide elected official shall be provided by law. An increase in the salary of a statewide elected official shall not become effective until the commencement of the subsequent term for that office following the adoption or enactment of the increase.

2022

In 2022, the officer's salary was $115,003, according to the Council of State Governments.

2021

In 2021, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,003, according to the Council of State Governments.

2020

In 2020, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,003 according to the Council of State Governments.

2019

In 2019, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $117,303 according to the Council of State Governments.

2018

In 2018, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2017

In 2017, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2016

In 2016, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2015

In 2015, the lieutenant governor received a salary of $115,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2014

In 2014, the lieutenant governor earned a salary of $115,000 according to the Council of State Governments.

2013

In 2013, the lieutenant governor's salary remained at $115,000.

2012

In 2012, the lieutenant governor was paid an estimated $115,000. This figure comes from the Council of State Governments.

2010

As of 2010, the lieutenant governor was paid $115,000, the 12th highest lieutenant gubernatorial salary in America.

Historical officeholders

Note: Ballotpedia's state executive officials project researches state official websites for chronological lists of historical officeholders; information for the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana has not yet been added because the information was unavailable on the relevant state official websites, or we are currently in the process of formatting the list for this office. If you have any additional information about this office for inclusion on this section and/or page, please email us.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Louisiana Lieutenant Governor. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana - Google News

Contact information

Capitol Address:
Office of Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser
1051 N. 3rd Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802
PO Box 44243
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-4243
Phone: 225-342-7009
Fax: 225-342-1949

External links

Suggest a link

• Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana