Changes

In 1975, Hardy was elected, again as a Democrat, as the Louisiana Secretary of State,<ref name=whoswho/> an officer which supervises elections and legal document. Hardy attributed his election to his ability to speak fluent [[France|French]] in the Acadiana region. The secretary of state's post opened when the veteran [[incumbent]] Wade Omer Martin, Jr. (1911-1990),<ref name=athlete/> who was then a Democrat but later switched to the Republican Party after he had left elective politics, stepped down to launch an unsuccessful [[Governor|gubernatorial]] attempt against [[Edwin Edwards]] and a third candidate, state Senator [[Robert G. Jones]], a [[Lake Charles]] stockbroker and a son of former Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] and another Democrat-turned-Republican. Hardy came from behind to beat his fellow Democratic opponent, State Representative [[P. J. Mills]] of [[Shreveport]]. In the primary, Mills had led with 49 percent of the vote. Hardy narrowly prevailed in the runoff—officially the [[general election]] in Louisiana. He polled 388,780 votes (51.5 percent) to Mills' 366,510 (48.5 percent).​ It was Mills' last campaign, but he was later chief of staff to Governor Roemer.

In 1975, Hardy was elected, again as a Democrat, as the Louisiana Secretary of State,<ref name=whoswho/> an officer which supervises elections and legal document. Hardy attributed his election to his ability to speak fluent [[France|French]] in the Acadiana region. The secretary of state's post opened when the veteran [[incumbent]] Wade Omer Martin, Jr. (1911-1990),<ref name=athlete/> who was then a Democrat but later switched to the Republican Party after he had left elective politics, stepped down to launch an unsuccessful [[Governor|gubernatorial]] attempt against [[Edwin Edwards]] and a third candidate, state Senator [[Robert G. Jones]], a [[Lake Charles]] stockbroker and a son of former Governor [[Sam Houston Jones]] and another Democrat-turned-Republican. Hardy came from behind to beat his fellow Democratic opponent, State Representative [[P. J. Mills]] of [[Shreveport]]. In the primary, Mills had led with 49 percent of the vote. Hardy narrowly prevailed in the runoff—officially the [[general election]] in Louisiana. He polled 388,780 votes (51.5 percent) to Mills' 366,510 (48.5 percent).​ It was Mills' last campaign, but he was later chief of staff to Governor Roemer.

===Running for governor at 37==​=

===Running for governor at 37===

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In 1979, Hardy ran for governor with the endorsement of former Governor [[John J.  McKeithen]] and won eighteen parishes in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]], but he missed securing a general election berth by 4 percentage points. Hardy finished in fourth place with 227,026 votes (16.6 percent). In a disputed third place was outgoing Lieutenant Governor [[Jimmy Fitzmorris]], of New Orleans, with 280,760 (20.6 percent). The general election would feature Republican [[U.S. Representative]] [[David C. Treen]] , then of Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans, who drew 297,674 primary votes (21.8 percent). Treen narrowly won the governorship against the remaining Democratic candidate, [[Louis Lambert]] of Ascension Parish, with 283,277 (20.7 percent). Hardy hence lost a general election slot by some 56,000 votes. Fitzmorris filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, but Judge Douglas Marion Gonzales, a Republican, ruled that Fitzmorris failed to provide evidence that enough fraudulent votes were cast for Lambert to impact the outcome of the second-place candidacy.​

In 1979, Hardy ran for governor with the endorsement of former Governor [[John J.  McKeithen]] and won eighteen parishes in the nonpartisan blanket [[primary]], but he missed securing a general election berth by 4 percentage points. Hardy finished in fourth place with 227,026 votes (16.6 percent). In a disputed third place was outgoing Lieutenant Governor [[Jimmy Fitzmorris]], of New Orleans, with 280,760 (20.6 percent). The general election would feature Republican [[U.S. Representative]] [[David C. Treen]] , then of Jefferson Parish in suburban New Orleans, who drew 297,674 primary votes (21.8 percent). Treen narrowly won the governorship against the remaining Democratic candidate, [[Louis Lambert]] of Ascension Parish, with 283,277 (20.7 percent). Hardy hence lost a general election slot by some 56,000 votes. Fitzmorris filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, but Judge Douglas Marion Gonzales, a Republican, ruled that Fitzmorris failed to provide evidence that enough fraudulent votes were cast for Lambert to impact the outcome of the second-place candidacy.​