The caucuses were held in the state's six newly drawn congressional districts.
While the presidential preferences of the delegates were not identified on the caucus ballots, delegates who back the libertarian congressman, who is now the only one of Mitt Romney's adversaries still standing, won the lion's share of the contests, carrying the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts.
As a result, under party rules, Paul is guaranteed at least 17 of the 46 delegates to the convention at which Romney will almost certainly be nominated for president.
Slate 3, which originated as an uncommitted conservative slate poised to back Rick Santorum before his withdrawal from the presidential race, carried the day in the 3rd District. The results in the 4th District were mixed, with a coalition of Romney supporters and members of the conservative slate likely to be in command.
The delegates elected Saturday will go to a state convention June 2 in Shreveport, where they will choose the delegates who will go to the national gathering in Tampa.
Based on his victory in the state's March 24 primary, Santorum is guaranteed 10 pledged delegates, and Romney, who finished second, is guaranteed five.
The balance of the 46-member delegation will include at least 17 Ron Paul delegates; at least one other Romney delegate in the person of National Committeewoman Ruth Ulrich, who just endorsed him; and the rest uncommitted.
Turnout at the caucuses was low. For example, the top vote-getter in the 1st District, Bernard S. Smith, received only 922 votes.
Ron Paul supporters distributed "voter guides" at caucus sites that steered voters to choose one of six virtually identical slates of Paul supporters that the guide variously characterized as the right choice for backers of Paul, Romney, Santorum, Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party, "Citizens Against Traffic Cameras" and defenders of faith, family and freedom.
Charlie Davis, who ran the Paul campaign in Louisiana, described the "third-party voter guide," which was the handiwork of The Dead Pelican, a Louisiana political website, as an attempt "to bring clarity to a somewhat confusing situation."
Chad Rogers, who publishes The Dead Pelican, said the guide was "the most accurate description and perhaps only real in-depth analysis of the different slates involved."
But the distribution of the guide seemed more designed to maximize Paul's vote than to clarify anything.
Jason Dore, the executive director of the state party, said he would bring the controversy about the voter guide to the attention of the state party's executive committee.
But when the votes were counted, Davis said, "The extra slates don't seem to have impacted the outcome in any of the congressional districts. Enthusiasm for Ron Paul carried the day. We should have about half the delegates from Louisiana."
While congratulating the Paul campaign "for apparently capturing their first state delegation in this presidential election cycle through an excellent get-out-the-vote effort today," Sarah Roy, chairwoman of the Greater New Orleans Republicans, characterized it as an "odd and undemocratic result" that would embarrass and distract both Romney and Gov. Bobby Jindal.
"The result of this ill-conceived and confusing caucus clearly does not represent the will of the vast majority of Louisiana Republican voters, as Ron Paul recently received only 6 percent of the vote in the Louisiana presidential primary," said Roy, who on behalf of her organization called for the state party's leaders to resign for designing Saturday's "debacle."
Among the better-known individuals who finished out of the money Saturday were Jefferson Parish President John Young and former state Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell in the 1st District, and former U.S. Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-New Orleans, and former City Councilman Bryan Wagner in the 2nd District.
However, people do need not to be delegates to the state convention to be named as delegates to the national convention.
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