1943 Mississippi lieutenant gubernatorial election

1943 Mississippi Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial primary runoff

←  1939 August 24, 1943 1947 →

Candidate Fielding L. Wright John Lumpkin Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 153,265 108,661 Percentage 58.51% 41.49%

County results Wright:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100% Lumpkin:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Lieutenant governor before election Dennis Murphree Democratic Elected Lieutenant governor Fielding L. Wright Democratic

The 1943 Mississippi lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1943, in order to elect the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Dennis Murphree decided to run for governor instead of seeking another term.

As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election; therefore, the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.

Democratic primary

No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured four contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Fielding L. Wright, who defeated John Lumpkin. ^{[1] [2]}

Results

August 3, 1943 Democratic primary ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Fielding L. Wright	91,182	33.73%
	Democratic	John Lumpkin	75,352	27.87%
	Democratic	Paul Spearman	61,000	22.56%
	Democratic	Charles G. Hamilton	42,814	15.84%
Total votes			270,348	100.00%

Runoff

August 24, 1943 Democratic primary runoff ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Fielding L. Wright	153,265	58.51%
	Democratic	John Lumpkin	108,661	41.49%
Total votes			261,926	100.00%

General election

In the general election, Wright won unopposed.

Results

November 2, 1943 General Election ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Fielding L. Wright	48,988	100.00%
Total votes			48,988	100.00%

References

1. "Wright Leads With Lumpkin Second For Lieutenant Governor". The Clarion-Ledger. August 5, 1943 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Bailey's Official Majority 17,271". Hattiesburg American. August 31, 1943 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Mississippi Blue Book. Biennial report of the Secretary of State to the Legislature of Mississippi. [1943-1945] - Page 213". University of Mississippi . December 31, 1945.
4. "Mississippi Blue Book. Biennial report of the Secretary of State to the Legislature of Mississippi. [1943-1945] - Page 219". University of Mississippi . December 31, 1945.
5. "Mississippi Blue Book. Biennial report of the Secretary of State to the Legislature of Mississippi. [1943-1945] - Page 226". University of Mississippi . December 31, 1945.