Former Louisiana Gov. Dave Treen, who became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction when he was elected in 1979 but lost a re-election bid to the flamboyant Democrat Edwin Edwards four years later, has died at age 81.
Treen's son, David C. Treen Jr., said Treen died early Thursday of complications from a respiratory illness at East Jefferson General Hospital in a New Orleans suburb. Funeral arrangements were not complete.
Edwards had served two terms as governor and could not succeed himself in the 1979 governor's race.
Treen's victory over Democrat Louis Lambert in that race was a watershed for the state's Republican Party in a state long dominated by Democrats.
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