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Baker polled 175,017 votes in the nonpartisan blanket primary, just enough to enter the 1979 general election against Jerry Fowler, who had been a former professional [[football]] player and a former educator. Baker and Republican gubernatorial candidate [[David C. Treen]], then of Jefferson Parish, were the first Louisiana Republicans to win statewide general election slots since the implementation of the nonpartisan blanket primary law in 1975.<ref>''The Alexandria Town Talk'', November 10, 1979, p. 3D.</ref> (The law did not take effect for congressional elections until 1978, and it ended for those elections in 2008 but was reinstated in 2010.)
Baker polled 175,017 votes in the nonpartisan blanket primary, just enough to enter the 1979 general election against Jerry Fowler, who had been a former professional [[football]] player and a former educator. Baker and Republican gubernatorial candidate [[David C. Treen]], then of Jefferson Parish, were the first Louisiana Republicans to win statewide general election slots since the implementation of the nonpartisan blanket primary law in 1975.<ref>''The Alexandria Town Talk'', November 10, 1979, p. 3D.</ref> (The law did not take effect for congressional elections until 1978, and it ended for those elections in 2008 but was reinstated in 2010.)
In the second round of balloting, Fowler polled 762,324 votes (62.8 percent) to Baker's 452,189 (37.2 percent). Baker won 68.1 percent in his own Franklin Parish, which Treen lost to the Democrat Louis Lambert of Baton Rouge. Baker won 55.8 percent and 51.2 percent in his neighboring Richland and Ouachita parishes, respectively. He polled 49.1 percent in Caddo Parish ([[Shreveport]]) and ran nearly as well in Calcasieu Parish ([[Lake Charles]]),<ref>''Baton Rouge State-Times'', December 22, 1979, p. 16C.</ref> where he had the support of former state Senator Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones]], the [[stockbroker]] son of former Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]].
In the second round of balloting, Fowler polled 762,324 votes (62.8 percent) to Baker's 452,189 (37.2 percent). Baker won 68.1 percent in his own Franklin Parish, which Treen lost to the Democrat Louis Lambert of Baton Rouge. Baker won 55.8 percent and 51.2 percent in his neighboring Richland and Ouachita parishes, respectively. He polled 49.1 percent in Caddo Parish ([[Shreveport]]) and ran nearly as well in Calcasieu Parish ([[Lake Charles]]),<ref>''Baton Rouge State-Times'', December 22, 1979, p. 16C.</ref> where he had the support of former state Senator Robert Gambrell "Bob" Jones]], the stockbroker son of former Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]].
Like his father, Jerry Fowler was also elected commissioner five times: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://obits.theadvocate.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=123406013|title=Jerry M. Fowler|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=January 28, 2009|accessdate=May 11, 2016}}</ref> In 1999, however, he finished in third place in the primary after bribery allegations surfaced. He would later serve a prison sentence. The post was then won by the only Republican who ever held it, Suzanne Haik Terrell, a former member of the New Orleans City Council.
Like his father, Jerry Fowler was also elected commissioner five times: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://obits.theadvocate.com/obituaries/theadvocate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=123406013|title=Jerry M. Fowler|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=January 28, 2009|accessdate=May 11, 2016}}</ref> In 1999, however, he finished in third place in the primary after bribery allegations surfaced. He would later serve a prison sentence. The post was then won by the only Republican who ever held it, Suzanne Haik Terrell, a former member of the New Orleans City Council.