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 County results Wallace: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Cashin Jr.: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Alabama |
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 Government |
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.
Despite Wallace's popularity, Brewer was seen as an early front-runner. Brewer, who had been elected lieutenant governor in 1966, had become governor after the death of Governor Lurleen Wallace, George's wife. A moderate, he became the first gubernatorial candidate since Reconstruction to openly court black voters. [1] Brewer, hoping to build a broad alliance between blacks and white working class voters, unveiled a progressive platform and accused Wallace of spending too much time outside the state, saying "Alabama needs a full-time governor.". [2]
Republican President Richard Nixon endorsed Brewer in order to break Wallace's political career and secure Deep South votes for himself in the next presidential election. [3] [4] It was later discovered that Nixon had directed his reelection campaign to donate $400,000 to Brewer in secret cash payments. [5]
Wallace, whose presidential ambitions would have been destroyed with a defeat, ran a very aggressive and dirty campaign using racist rhetoric while proposing few original ideas of his own. [6] The Wallace campaign aired TV ads with slogans such as "Do you want the black block electing your governor?" and circulated an ad showing a white girl surrounded by seven black boys, with the slogan "Wake Up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama." [7] Wallace called Brewer a sissy [8] and promised not to run for president a third time. [9]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Albert Brewer (incumbent) | 428,146 | 41.98 | |
| Democratic | George Wallace | 416,443 | 40.84 | |
| Democratic | Charles Woods | 149,987 | 14.71 | |
| Democratic | Asa Carter | 15,441 | 1.51 | |
| Democratic | Jim Folsom | 4,123 | 0.40 | |
| Democratic | Coleman Brown | 2,836 | 0.28 | |
| Democratic | Shorty Price | 2,804 | 0.28 | |
| Total votes | 1,019,780 | 100 | ||
Despite Brewer's victory in the first round, he failed to win a majority and was forced into a runoff with Wallace.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Wallace | 559,832 | 51.56 | |
| Democratic | Albert Brewer (incumbent) | 525,951 | 48.44 | |
| Total votes | 1,085,783 | 100 | ||
At the time, the Democratic primary in Alabama was regarded as more important than the general election, as Alabama was still essentially a one-party state in non-presidential elections. The Republican Party did not field a candidate, and Wallace easily won the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Wallace | 637,046 | 74.51 | |
| National Democratic (Ala.) | John L. Cashin Jr. | 125,491 | 14.68 | |
| Independent | A. C. Shelton | 75,679 | 8.85 | |
| Prohibition | Jerome B. Couch | 9,705 | 1.14 | |
| Independent | Menter G. Walker | 3,534 | 0.41 | |
| Whig | John Watts | 3,497 | 0.41 | |
| Total votes | 854,952 | 100 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
George Corley Wallace Jr. was an American politician and judge who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. 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 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.
Albert Preston Brewer was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician who served as the 47th governor of Alabama from 1968 to 1971. He previously served as the lieutenant governor of Alabama, the speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, and as an Alabama state representative representing Morgan County from 1955 to 1967.
The 1970 South Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1970 to select the governor of the state of South Carolina. John C. West, the Democratic nominee, won a close general election against Albert Watson, the Republican congressman from the 2nd congressional district.
The Alabama Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Alabama. It is chaired by Randy Kelley.
The 1968 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 5, 1968, and was part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Whereas in the Deep South, Black Belt whites had deserted the national Democratic Party in 1948, in North Carolina, where they had historically been an economically liberalizing influence on the state Democratic Party, the white landowners of the Black Belt had stayed exceedingly loyal to the party until after the Voting Rights Act. This allowed North Carolina to be, along with Arkansas, the only state to vote for Democrats in all four presidential elections between 1952 and 1964. Indeed, the state had not voted Republican since anti-Catholic fervor lead it to support Herbert Hoover over Al Smith in 1928; and other than that the state had not voted Republican once in the century since the Reconstruction era election of 1872. Nonetheless, in 1964 Republican Barry Goldwater may have won a small majority of white voters, although he was beaten by virtually universal support for incumbent President Lyndon Johnson by a black vote estimated at 175 thousand.
The 1968 United States presidential election in New Mexico took place on November 5, 1968. All fifty states and The District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. State voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 43 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Alabama was held on November 5, 1968. In Alabama, voters voted for electors individually instead of as a slate, as in the other 49 states.
The 1968 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. Virginia voters chose twelve electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president of the United States.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Texas was held on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia, were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. The state chose 25 electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1972 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 7, 1972, as part of the concurrent United States presidential election. Florida voters chose seventeen electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon won the state over the Democratic nominee, South Dakota Senator George McGovern, by a landslide margin of 44.11% and over one million votes.
The 1968 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia were part of the 1968 United States presidential election. South Carolina voters chose 8 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Mississippi was held on November 5, 1968. Mississippi voters chose seven electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice-President. During the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement dictated Mississippi's politics, with effectively the entire white population vehemently opposed to federal policies of racial desegregation and black voting rights. In 1960, the state had been narrowly captured by a slate of unpledged Democratic electors, but in 1964 universal white opposition to the Civil Rights Act and negligible black voter registration meant that white Mississippians turned almost unanimously to Republican Barry Goldwater. Goldwater's support for "constitutional government and local self-rule" meant that the absence from the ballot of "states' rights" parties or unpledged electors was unimportant. The Arizona Senator was one of only six Republicans to vote against the Civil Rights Act, and so the small electorate of Mississippi supported him almost unanimously.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Michigan was held on November 5, 1968. All 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in the 1968 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 electors to represent them in the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in Connecticut took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election, which was held throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 1968 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 5, 1968, as part of the 1968 United States presidential election. West Virginia voters chose seven representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
 Alabama gubernatorial elections | |
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