1959 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1959 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

←  1955 August 25, 1959 1963  →

Nominee Ross Barnett Carroll Gartin Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 230,557 193,706 Percentage 54.34% 45.66%

County results Barnett:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Gartin:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

Governor before election James P. Coleman Democratic Elected Governor Ross Barnett Democratic

The 1959 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1959, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat James P. Coleman was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second 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. ^[1]

Democratic primary

After the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954 against school segregation and the 1957 Little Rock Crisis, the defense of segregation and white supremacy across the South became a paramount concern, and all candidates ran as segregationists. ^{[2] [3]}

Ross Barnett, who previously ran in 1951 and 1955, had the support of the Citizens' Councils and former Theodore G. Bilbo partisans, as well as the covert help of Senator James Eastland. Barnett described himself as a "vigorous segregationist." ^{[4] [5]}

Carroll Gartin, the incumbent lieutenant governor, ran on a platform of continuity with Coleman's term as governor.

Charles L. Sullivan, an attorney, was relatively more moderate on the race subject; he also ran on a promise to end the state's Prohibition law. ^[2] He also received covert help from Eastland, who wanted to hamstring Gartin. ^[4]

Robert Mason was a perennial candidate who ran on a white supremacy platform, promising to have money printed to fund the state's budget: "They’re turning out the money on those free presses. And that’s good. Let’em keep turning some of that free press money to Mississippi." He also opposed the end of Prohibition in Mississippi. He said he saved money so that, every two or three years, he could either travel or run for governor, adding that he did so on the suggestion of his wife. ^[6]

Because no candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, by state law, a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Barnett, who defeated Gartin; both ran as rabid segregationists, to the dismay of the relatively more moderate incumbent Coleman. Each candidate tried to tar the other side with association with pro-integration forces. ^[7]

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1959 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ross Barnett	155,508	35.26
	Democratic	Carroll Gartin	151,043	34.25
	Democratic	Charles L. Sullivan	131,792	29.88
	Democratic	Robert F. Mason [6]	2,704	0.61
Total votes			441,047	100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1959 ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ross Barnett	230,557	54.34
	Democratic	Carroll Gartin	193,706	45.66
Total votes			424,263	100.00

General election

In the general election, Barnett ran unopposed.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1959 ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ross Barnett	57,671	100.00
Total votes			57,671	100.00
	Democratic hold

References

1. Busbee Jr., Westley F. (October 28, 2014). Mississippi: A History. John Wiley & Sons. p. 309. ISBN   978-1-118-75592-1.
2. Dickerson, James L.; Alston, Alex A. Jr. (2009). Devil's Sanctuary: An Eyewitness History of Mississippi Hate Crimes. Chicago Review Press. p. 57. ISBN   978-1-56976-316-2.
3. Klarman, Michael J. (2006). From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality. Oxford University Press. pp. 401–402. ISBN   978-0-19-531018-4.
4. Wilkie, Curtis (May 16, 2002). Dixie: A Personal Osyssey Through Historic Events That Shaped the Modern South. Simon and Schuster. pp. 91–93. ISBN   978-0-7432-2604-2.
5. Nash, Jere; Taggart, Andy (April 13, 2010). Mississippi Politics: The Struggle for Power, 1976-2008, Second Edition. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN   978-1-62846-980-6.
6. Perry, Brian (October 19, 2016). "PERRY/Political circus nothing new". The Neshoba Democrat. Philadelphia, Mississippi. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
7. Crespino, Joseph (2007). In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution. Princeton University Press. p. 35. ISBN   978-0-691-12209-0.
8. "MS Governor D Primary 1959". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
9. "MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1959". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
10. "MS Governor 1959". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 6, 2016.