This study explores linguistic production of male and female political candidates in two debates in the 1995 Louisiana Governor's race. Various manifestations of the linguistic features of proforms, topic shifts, hedges and colophons (dependent variables) are examined to test if previously established relationships between these features and gender and power (independent variables) hold in an electoral arena. Each linguistic feature was coded using The Ethnograph computer program and the frequencies of each feature were then translated into a data base in order to conduct statistical testing. Statistical tests were conducted, using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 8.0) computer program, to determine if any of the linguistic features were in a significant statistical relationship with gender or with power. Exclusive proform. use was found to be in a statistical relationship with gender (males); while meta-topic shifting was also found to be in a significant relationship with gender (females). A critique of the two main theoretical approaches to language and gender research, the difference (genderlect) approach and the dominance approach, was conducted. Suggestions for future research and an expanded language and gender research agenda are included