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 County results Wallace: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% deGraffenried: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Alabama |
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 Government |
The 1962 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1962. Incumbent Democrat John Malcolm Patterson was term limited and could not seek a second consecutive term.
At this time Alabama was de facto one-party state. Every Democratic Party nominee felt safe. The real contest for governor took place during this party's primaries.
Incumbent Governor John M. Patterson was barred from seeking a second consecutive term.
Among three main contenders – Folsom, DeGraffenried and Wallace – the former two were considered to be progressive or moderate. Folsom, who served as Governor from 1947 to 1951 and again from 1955 to 1959, was one of the first Southern chief executives who spoke out in favor of desegregation and voting rights for any African Americans, which led to him frequently clashing with the Legislature on a number of issues. [1] [2] DeGraffenried also ran as a moderate, especially on the race issues. [3]
Wallace, who lost a close primary to Patterson in 1958, ran that year as a Folsom-style moderate (he was indeed a close Folsom ally), and even received the official NAACP endorsement, while Patterson ran as a strong segregationist, accepting the official Ku Klux Klan endorsement. [4]
After he lost in 1958, Wallace adopted a strong segregationist stance as well in order to secure votes. [5]
In the primary, held on May 1, Wallace finished first but failed to win a majority. Folsom and DeGraffenried split the moderate vote, and DeGraffenried, as the second-place finisher, faced Wallace in the runoff. Many believed that a controversial TV appearance, in which Folsom appeared to be seriously drunk, cost him the election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Wallace | 207,062 | 32.49 | |
| Democratic | Ryan DeGraffenried Sr. | 160,704 | 25.22 | |
| Democratic | Jim Folsom | 159,640 | 25.05 | |
| Democratic | MacDonald Gallion | 80,374 | 12.61 | |
| Democratic | Bull Connor | 23,019 | 3.61 | |
| Democratic | J. Bruce Henderson | 3,666 | 0.58 | |
| Democratic | Wayne Jennings | 1,946 | 0.31 | |
| Democratic | Albert Boutwell | 862 | 0.14 | |
| Total votes | 637,273 | 100 | ||
Wallace defeated DeGraffenried in the runoff, held on May 29. [6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Wallace | 340,730 | 55.87 | |
| Democratic | Ryan DeGraffenried Sr. | 269,122 | 44.13 | |
| Total votes | 609,852 | 100 | ||
The Republican Party did not field a candidate.
Wallace's sole rival was Frank P. Walls, an independent who was later an Alabama Conservative Party congressional candidate.
As expected, Wallace won in a landslide.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Wallace | 303,987 | 96.27 | +8.05% | |
| Independent | Frank P. Walls | 11,789 | 3.73 | N/A | |
| Majority | 292,198 | 92.54 | |||
| Turnout | 315,776 | ||||
| Democratic hold | |||||
George Corley Wallace Jr. was the 45th governor of Alabama, serving from 1963 to 1967, again from 1971 to 1979, and finally from 1983 to 1987. He is remembered for his staunch segregationist and populist views. During Wallace's tenure as governor of Alabama, he promoted "industrial development, low taxes, and trade schools." Wallace unsuccessfully sought the United States presidency as a Democratic Party candidate three times, and once as an American Independent Party candidate, carrying five states in the 1968 election. Wallace opposed desegregation and supported the policies of "Jim Crow" during the Civil Rights Movement, declaring in his very controversial 1963 inaugural address that he stood for "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever".
Lurleen Burns Wallace was an American politician who served as the 46th governor of Alabama for 16 months from January 16, 1967, until her death on May 7, 1968. She was the first wife of Alabama governor George Wallace, whom she succeeded as governor because at the time the Alabama constitution forbade consecutive terms.
James Elisha 'Jim' Folsom Jr. is an American politician who was the 50th governor of Alabama from April 22, 1993, to January 16, 1995. He has also served as the lieutenant governor of Alabama on two occasions. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
James Elisha Folsom Sr., commonly known as Jim Folsom or Big Jim Folsom, was an American politician who served as the 42nd governor of the U.S. state of Alabama, having served from 1947 to 1951, and again from 1955 to 1959. He was the first Governor of Alabama born in the 20th century.
The 1968 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 5, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year. The Republicans picked up five net seats in the Senate. This saw Republicans win a Senate seat in Florida for the first time since Reconstruction.
John Malcolm Patterson was an American politician. He served one term as Attorney General of Alabama from 1955 to 1959, and, at age 37, served one term as the 44th Governor of Alabama from 1959 to 1963.
George Corley Wallace III, generally known as George Wallace Jr., is an American politician from the U.S. state of Alabama. He is the only son of George and Lurleen Wallace, each of whom was Democratic governor of Alabama.
The Alabama Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Alabama. It is chaired by Randy Kelley.
William Ryan deGraffenried Jr. served as President Pro Tempore of the Alabama State Senate from 1987 to 1994.
The 1970 Alabama gubernatorial election was marked by a competitive Democratic primary battle between incumbent moderate Governor Albert Brewer and segregationist former governor and 1968 independent presidential candidate George Wallace. The Alabama Constitution was amended in 1968, allowing a governor to serve two consecutive terms.
The 1982 Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1982, to elect the governor of Alabama. Incumbent Democrat Fob James declined to run for re-election; he later successfully ran again in 1994 as a Republican. The open seat election saw former Democratic governor George Wallace, who narrowly won the Democratic primary, defeat Republican Emory Folmar, the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama.
The 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958. Incumbent Democrat Jim Folsom was term limited and could not seek a second consecutive term.
The 1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966. Winthrop Rockefeller was elected governor of Arkansas, becoming the first Republican to be elected to the office since Reconstruction in 1872.
William Ryan deGraffenried Sr. was an American attorney and politician from Alabama.
The 1968 United States Senate election in Alabama took place on November 5, 1968. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator J. Lister Hill retired. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor of Alabama James Allen, who won a hotly contested primary over Armistead I. Selden Jr. In the general election, Allen easily defeated Republican Probate Judge Perry O. Hooper Sr. and National Democratic nominee Robert Schwenn.
The 1978 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, to elect the governor of Alabama. Fob James, a businessman who had switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and campaigned as a "born-again Democrat", won the Democratic primary in an upset over Attorney General Bill Baxley. He went on to defeat Guy Hunt in a landslide in the general election. Incumbent Democrat George Wallace was term limited and could not seek a third consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 1982.
The 1966 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1966, and resulted in the election of Lurleen Wallace as the governor over U.S. Representative James D. Martin. Incumbent Democrat George Wallace was term limited and could not seek a second consecutive term; he later successfully ran again in 1970 and 1974 before being term-limited again, and then successfully ran again in 1982.
The 1974 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1974. Incumbent Democratic governor George Wallace was reelected in a landslide over his Republican opponent, businessman Elvin McCary. Wallace was the first Alabama governor to win election to a second consecutive term, as the state's Constitution was amended in 1968 to allow governors to serve a maximum two elected consecutive terms. This was also Wallace's first campaign after having been paralyzed following being shot by Arthur Bremer in an assassination attempt during Wallace's run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination.
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 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.
 Alabama gubernatorial elections | |
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