Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture election, 2015

2015 Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture Election

Table of Contents Candidates Key deadlines Duties 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: Michael Strain

The Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture election took place on October 24, 2015. Incumbent Michael Strain (R) was first elected in 2007 and successfully ran for re-election 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

The Louisiana filing deadline passed on September 10, 2015, and candidate lists have been updated to reflect the official filing lists.

Declared

Charles Greer
Michael Strain - Incumbent
Jamie LaBranche
Adrian "Ace" Juttner

Results

Despite there being four candidates on the primary ballot, incumbent Commissioner Mike Strain won a majority of votes, eliminating the need for a general election contest in November.

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture, Blanket Primary, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Strain	58.2%	603,557
	Democratic	Charles Greer	30.1%	312,335
	Republican	Jamie LaBranche	8.2%	85,363
	Green	Adrian Juttner	3.5%	36,180
Total Votes				1,037,435
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 agriculture commissioner is responsible for promoting, protecting and advancing agriculture and forestry, as well as soil and water resources, in the state of Louisiana.

Campaign finance

Third 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 $534,750 and spent a total of $20,861.83 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on September 25, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
Michael Strain	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$502,250.46	$534,750.00	$20,861.83	$1,016,138.63
Jamie LaBranche	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Grand Total Raised					$534,750
Grand Total Spent					$20,861.83

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 $39,875 and spent a total of $6,607.88 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on September 25, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
Michael Strain	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$468,983.34	$39,875.00	$6,607.88	$502,250.46
Jamie LaBranche	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Grand Total Raised					$39,875
Grand Total Spent					$6,607.88

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 $38,110 and spent a total of $26,530.81 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on September 25, 2015.

Campaign Contributions and Expenditures
Candidate	Office	Beginning balance	Contributions	Expenditures	Ending balance
Michael Strain	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$457,404.15	$38,100.00	$26,520.81	$468,983.34
Jamie LaBranche	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$0.00	$10.00	$10.00	$10.00
Grand Total Raised					$38,110
Grand Total Spent					$26,530.81

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 $1,200 and spent a total of $2,500 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
Michael Strain	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$3,654.49	$1,200	$2,500	$2,354.49
Jamie LaBranche	Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture	$0	$0	$0	$0
Grand Total Raised					$1,200
Grand Total Spent					$2,500

Past elections

2011

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Strain Incumbent	66.5%	640,886
	Democratic	Jamie LaBranche	27.8%	267,942
	Reform	Belinda Alexandrenko	5.7%	54,888
Total Votes				963,716
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

2007

Democratic incumbent Bob Odom led in the blanket primary on October 20, 2007, but headed to a runoff election with Michael Strain (R) because neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote. Odom withdrew from the race prior to the runoff, leading to Strain's election by default.

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture & Forestry, Blanket Primary, 2007
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bob Odom Incumbent	41.3%	505,504
	Republican	Michael Strain	40.5%	494,760
	Republican	Wayne Carter	12.5%	152,893
	Republican	Don Johnson	5.7%	69,470
Total Votes				1,222,627
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

2003

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture & Forestry, Blanket Primary, 2003
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Bob Odom	65.6%	822,682
	Republican	Don Johnson	34.4%	430,856
Total Votes				1,253,538
Election results via Louisiana Secretary of State

Recent news

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

2015 Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture Election News Feed

External links

Suggest a link

• Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry