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County results Barnett: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Gartin: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Mississippi |
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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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election. [1]
After the Brown ruling about school desegregation 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 already ran on 1951 and 1955, ran with the support of the Citizens' Councils, former Bilbo partisans and the covert help of Senator James Eastland as a "vigorous segregationist", as he told himself. [4] [5]
Carroll Gartin ran in the continuity of Coleman.
Sullivan was relatively more moderate on the race subject; he also ran on a promise to end prohibition. [2] He received covert help from Eastland, who wanted to hamstrung Gartin. [4]
Robert Mason was a perennial candidate who ran on a white supremacy platform, promising to have money printed to fund Mississippi 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 opposed the end of prohibition. 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]
No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured 4 contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by trial lawyer Ross Barnett, who defeated Lieutenant Governor Carroll Gartin; both ran as rabid segregationists to the dismay of the relatively more moderate incumbent Coleman, each one trying to tar the other side with association with pro-integration forces. [7]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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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 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ross Barnett | 230,557 | 54.34 | |
Democratic | Carroll Gartin | 193,706 | 45.66 | |
Total votes | 424,263 | 100.00 |
In the general election, Barnett ran unopposed.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ross Barnett | 57,671 | 100.00 | |
Total votes | 57,671 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic hold | ||||
James Oliver Eastland was an American attorney, plantation owner, and politician from Mississippi. A Democrat, he served in the United States Senate in 1941 and again from 1943 until his resignation on December 27, 1978. Eastland was a segregationist who led the Southern resistance against racial integration during the civil rights movement, often speaking of African Americans as "an inferior race." Eastland has been called the "Voice of the White South" and the "Godfather of Mississippi Politics."
Ross Robert Barnett was an American politician and segregationist who served as the 53rd governor of Mississippi from 1960 to 1964. He was a Southern Democrat who supported racial segregation.
William Lowe Waller Sr. was an American politician and attorney. A Democrat, Waller served as the 56th governor of Mississippi from 1972 to 1976. Born near Oxford, Mississippi to a farming family, Waller went to law school and in 1950 established a law practice in Jackson. Nine years later, he was elected District Attorney of Hinds County, Mississippi. Waller attempted to reform the position and provoked the ire of local law enforcement for aggressively prosecuting several cases. In 1964, he twice prosecuted Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, with both trials resulting in deadlocked juries. In 1967, he launched an unsuccessful campaign for governor, finishing fifth in the Democratic primary.
Rubel Lex Phillips was an American politician and lawyer. He grew up poor in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Hailing from a politically active family and initially a member of the Democratic Party, he served as a circuit court clerk from 1952 to 1956 and chaired the Mississippi Public Service Commission from 1956 to 1958. In 1962 Phillips joined the Republican Party. He ran as a Republican in the 1963 Mississippi gubernatorial election, the first person to do so since 1947. Supporting a platform of racial segregation and opposition to the presidential administration of John F. Kennedy, he lost, garnering only 38 percent of the vote.
Carroll Gartin was an American Democratic politician from Laurel in Jones County in southeastern Mississippi, who served three terms as the 22nd lieutenant governor of his state. He was born in Meridian, in eastern Mississippi.
The 1978 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1978. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland decided to retire.
The 1967 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1967, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Paul B. Johnson Jr. was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term.
The 1963 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1963, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Ross Barnett was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term.
The 1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1955, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Hugh L. White 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election. This election was the first Mississippi gubernatorial election since 1931 that the winner of the gubernatorial election was of a different party than the incumbent president.
The 1951 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1951, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Fielding L. Wright was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second full term. As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1943 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1943 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Paul B. Johnson Sr. 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1939 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1939, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Hugh L. White 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1935 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1935, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Martin S. Conner 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1931 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1931, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Theodore G. Bilbo 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1927 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1927, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Dennis Murphree, as he had not served a full term, was eligible for and ran for election. As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1923 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1923, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Lee M. Russell 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 so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.
The 1903 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1903, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Andrew H. Longino was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term.
The 1954 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 2, 1954. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator James Eastland won re-election to his third term.
The 1966 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 8, 1966.
There were three special elections to the United States Senate in 1941 during the 77th United States Congress.