Most of the Republican incumbents in statewide positions won reelection Saturday night.

But in a repeat of last year’s election, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin ended up in a runoff with Gwen Collins-Greenup, the same Democrat he defeated in the 2018 race.

That's partly because of the number of votes attracted by Republican Thomas J. Kennedy III, who campaigned little but attracted a lot of support.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Attorney General Jeff Landry, Treasurer John Schroder, Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain and Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon all won their races.

Ardoin, 52, worked as a top deputy in the office and became interim secretary of state when Tom Schedler resigned after being accused of sexually harassing an employee.

In 2018, Ardoin joined the race at the last minute to fill out the remaining year of Schedler’s term. Last year’s nine-candidate special election race was tense and close.

Ardoin and Collins-Greenup, of Clinton, ended up in the December runoff. He defeated Collins-Greenup with 59 % of the vote in a low turnout race in December to become Louisiana's chief elections officer.

The two again found themselves as the main candidates for secretary of state, this time for the full four years. Collins-Greenup was endorsed by the Democrats, Ardoin by the Republicans.

Donelon also face a fierce contest for reelection, with an intraparty challenge from Republican Tim Temple. Temple, an insurance industry executive, invested nearly $2 million in the race and ran a heavy schedule of television commercials trying to keep Donelon from winning a fourth term as the state’s chief regulator over the insurance industry.

Donelon barely held on to his job as the final votes were counted Saturday night.

Nungesser won a second four-year term as Louisiana’s second highest ranking official, easily defeating Democratic candidate Willie Jones, of New Orleans.

In addition to taking the reins when the governor is incapacitated, the lieutenant governor oversees tourism, one of the state’s largest industries, as well as the state’s 45 recreational parks, fishing areas, seafood industry and the state’s 13 museums.

Jones served on the Orleans Parish District E Democratic Executive Committee and the Louisiana State Central Committee for District 100. He said he wanted to support small businesses and would have started an entrepreneurial program. He said he sought to ensure better representation of minorities and women to 29 boards.

Landry also waltzed to reelection Saturday night, dispatching a former opponent.

The pugnacious Republican former congressman has been the state’s leading voice for conservative causes, such as fighting environmental regulations, backing up the state’s strict anti-abortion laws and defending President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

That was one of the reasons why Democratic lawyer Ike Jackson gave for signing up to run against Landry during the final hours of qualifying in August.

Republican Schroder won a full term as state treasurer Saturday night. He, too, faced a former opponent.

Schroder, 58, won a special election in 2017 to fill out the final two years of the term after John N. Kennedy was elected to the U.S. Senate. He faced — and beat — Democrat Derrick Edwards, of New Orleans in the 2017 runoff.

On Saturday night, Schroder beat Edwards and Teresa Kenny, a New Orleans process improvement access expert who ran without party affiliation.

Republican Strain knocked off four opponents to win a fourth term as Louisiana agriculture and forestry commissioner Saturday night.

A veterinarian by trade, Strain faced three farmers.

Marguerite Green, a 31-year-old farmer and executive director of the farmer training and advocacy group Sprout Nola, ran on a platform of addressing climate change, legalizing recreational marijuana and expanding local food production.

Charlie Greer said Strain has done little to seek more money from the Legislature. A former head of forest enforcement, Greer said Strain has been lucky to have several wet seasons, but he warned the agency’s shoestring budget is ill-equipped to handle a spate of wildfires.

Peter Williams, a Pointe Coupee Parish tree farmer, wanted to put a heavy emphasis on Louisiana’s nascent industrial hemp program, which was legalized this past legislative session and is awaiting regulatory action from the federal government.

An Egan rice, crawfish and cattle farmer, Bradley Zaunbrecher said he decided to run in part because of the loss of young farmers.

Email Mark Ballard at mballard@theadvocate.com.

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