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→Twice elected lieutenant governor
Fitzmorris won the runoff by a wide margin and then faced the Republican former state representative Morley Alvin Hudson (1917-2001) of [[Shreveport]], running on the ticket headed by later Governor [[David C. Treen]]. Fitzmorris scored a knockout over Hudson and went on to serve two terms in the state's second highest office. He polled 815,794 votes (76.8 percent) to Hudson's 218,169 ballots (20.5 percent). Hudson failed to win a single parish but fared best in his home base of Caddo Parish. (A third candidate in the race, Gertrude L. Taylor, also of Shreveport, nominee of [[George Wallace]]'s former American Independent Party, received 2.7 percent of the vote.)
Fitzmorris won the runoff by a wide margin and then faced the Republican former state representative Morley Alvin Hudson (1917-2001) of [[Shreveport]], running on the ticket headed by later Governor [[David C. Treen]]. Fitzmorris scored a knockout over Hudson and went on to serve two terms in the state's second highest office. He polled 815,794 votes (76.8 percent) to Hudson's 218,169 ballots (20.5 percent). Hudson failed to win a single parish but fared best in his home base of Caddo Parish. (A third candidate in the race, Gertrude L. Taylor, also of Shreveport, nominee of [[George Wallace]]'s former American Independent Party, received 2.7 percent of the vote.)
On November 1, 1975, Fitzmorris cruised to reelection in the first ever nonpartisan blanket primary in Louisiana. One of his minor opponents, Lance A. Britton(born November 19, 1943), then of Baton Rouge and currently of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish., was the only Republican seeking statewide office that year because Louisiana was then an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Britton polled only 67,821 votes (6 percent), compared to Fitzmorris' 924,325 (81.7 percent). At the time, there were 54,862 registered Republicans in Louisiana. Britton hence polled only about 13,000 more votes for lieutenant governor than the number of GOP registrants.
On November 1, 1975, Fitzmorris cruised to reelection in the first ever nonpartisan blanket primary in Louisiana. One of his minor opponents, Lance Allan Britton (born November 19, 1943), then of [[Baton Rouge]] and currently of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, was the only Republican seeking statewide office that year because Louisiana was then an overwhelmingly Democratic state. Britton polled only 67,821 votes (6 percent), compared to Fitzmorris' 924,325 (81.7 percent). At the time, there were 54,862 registered Republicans in Louisiana. Britton hence polled only about 13,000 more votes for lieutenant governor than the number of GOP registrants.
As lieutenant governor, Fitzmorris headed the Louisiana Tourist Development Commission. He encouraged the establishment of the defunct outdoor drama, ''Louisiana Cavalier,'' which was performed in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] on summer nights during the middle 1970s. He encouraged industrial development, and by the late 1970s, Louisiana was among the more successful states in recruiting new businesses and industries.
As lieutenant governor, Fitzmorris headed the Louisiana Tourist Development Commission. He encouraged the establishment of the defunct outdoor drama, ''Louisiana Cavalier,'' which was performed in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] on summer nights during the middle 1970s. He encouraged industrial development, and by the late 1970s, Louisiana was among the more successful states in recruiting new businesses and industries.