1963 Mississippi House of Representatives election

1963 Mississippi House of Representatives election

← 1959 November 5, 1963 1967 →
122 seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives 62 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Walter Sillers Jr. Lewis McAllister Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Bolivar Lauderdale Seats before 139 1 Seats won 121 1 Seat change 18 Popular vote 93,996 [a] 41,811 Percentage 69.21% 30.79%
Results:      Democratic hold     Republican hold Multi-member districts:      Majority Democratic
Speaker before election Walter Sillers Jr. Democratic Elected Speaker Walter Sillers Jr. Democratic

The 1963 Mississippi House of Representatives election was held on November 5, 1963, in the U.S. State of Mississippi to elect members of the Mississippi House of Representatives for its 1964 session. The Democratic primaries were held on August 6, with runoffs held if necessary on August. 27.

This was the first state house election after the 1963 referendum passing reapportionment of the state legislature, the first time the state had done so since 1890. The state house shrunk from 140 members to 122. ^[1]

Lewis McAllister, the sole Republican in the legislature, held onto his seat in Lauderdale County by a slim margin. McAllister was first elected in a special election earlier that year in February. There were no Republicans on the ballot in Mississippi in the 1959 general election. ^[2]

The election was held alongside elections for governor and state senate.

General election

Most races were unopposed. All races not listed here were won by the Democratic nominee without Republican or independent opposition.

County/post	Outcome		Democrats			Republicans			Total	Majority		Ref.
			Candidate	Vote	%	Candidate	Vote	%		Vote	%
Forrest 1	Dem Hold		Stone Barefield	65,488	76.75	Harold Davis	1,965	23.25	8,453	+4,523	+53.51	[3]
Forrest 2	Dem Hold		Rex K. Jones	6,850	79.63	Rome A. Emmons Jr.	1,752	20.37	8,602	+5,098	+59.27	[3]
Harrison 2	Dem Hold		Jeff Evans	7,068	52.50	Ken Sadler	6,395	47.50	13,463	+673	+5.00	[4]
Hinds 4	Dem Hold		Billy Thompson	16,087	65.30	Swan Yerger	8,550	34.70	24,637	+7,537	+30.59	[5]
Hinds 5	Dem Hold		William McKinley	16,208	68.30	Swan Yerger	7,524	31.70	23,732	+8,684	+36.59	[5]
Jackson 1	Dem Hold		N. C. Everett	6,709	77.70	Robert Pelton	1,926	22.30	8,635	+4,783	+55.39	[6] *
Jackson 2	Dem Hold		Mabry Penton	6,228	71.32	Wallace Sherwood	2,505	28.68	8,733	+3,723	+42.63	[6] *
Jackson 3	Dem Hold		Ted Millette	6,519	71.61	Robert Baker	2,585	28.39	9,104	+3,934	+43.21	[6] *
Lauderdale	Rep Hold		Jim B. Collier	3,482	49.71	Lewis McAllister	3,522	50.29	7,004	−40	−0.57	[6] *
Leflore 2	Dem Hold		Estes McDaniel	2,846	68.12	Hugh Arant	1,332	31.88	4,178	+1,514	+36.24	[6] *
Pike 2	Dem Hold		Elwood Branch	4,262	86.49	Charles Stogner	666	13.51	4,928	+3,596	+72.97	[7]
Pontotoc	Dem Hold		DeVan Dalls	2,791	88.46	Floyce Kidd	364	11.54	3,155	+2,427	+76.93	[6] *
Simpson	Dem Hold		Jack Warren	4,260	88.73	Charles Meadows	541	11.27	4,801	+3,719	+77.46	[8]
Sunflower	Dem Hold		Fred Jones	1,969	54.39	Tate Stokely	1,651	45.61	3,620	+318	+8.78	[6] *
Tippah	Dem Hold		Griffin Ladner Jr.	2,229	80.70	William McKinstry	533	19.30	2,762	+1,696	+61.40	[6] *

Sources marked with an asterisk (*) denote those with only unofficial results.

Notes

1. Popular vote count based on a combination of official and unofficial returns

References

1. Walt, Thatcher (6 February 1963). "County Votes Heavily In Favor Of Amendment On Reapportioning". The Greenwood Commonwealth . Retrieved 28 March 2025.
2. "Republican Group Leaves For Regional GOP Meet". Clarion-Ledger . Associated Press. 8 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
3. "Forrest County's official vote listed". Hattiesburg American . 8 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
4. "Evans Is Confirmed Winner". Sun Herald . 7 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
5. "Hinds Votes Johnson By More Than 3,000". Clarion-Ledger . 9 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
6. "Demos Win 21 Of 22 In Legislature". Clarion-Ledger . Associated Press. 7 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
7. "Returns Are Now Official". Enterprise-Journal. 7 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
8. "Official Returns Of Simpson County Nov. 5, 1963 General Election". The Magee Courier . 7 November 1963. Retrieved 29 March 2025.