1971 United States gubernatorial elections

1971 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1970 November 2, 1971; February 1, 1972 (LA) 1972  →
3 governorships
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 29 21 Seats after 30 20 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 2 1 Seats won 3 0
Democratic hold   Democratic gain

United States gubernatorial elections were held in three states.

In Mississippi and Kentucky, general elections took place on 2 November 1971. In Louisiana, their general election took place on 1 February 1972 after the party primaries on 6 November 1971 and a Democratic primary runoff on 18 December 1971. In Mississippi and Louisiana, there were no party changes (in both cases, from Democrat to Democrat). In Kentucky, there was a Democratic gain.

In Kentucky, Louie B. Nunn was not allowed to run for a second term under the term limits rule at the time, a rule that was changed in 1992. ^[1]

In Mississippi, John Bell Williams was also barred from a second term under the term limits rule at the time, a rule that was changed in the mid-1980s. ^[2]

In Louisiana, John McKeithen had been allowed a second term due to a new rule enacted that allowed governors two consecutive terms, and thus was allowed to run for a second term (see Louisiana gubernatorial election, 1967). ^[3] Thus, he too was term-limited.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Louie Nunn	Republican	1967	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic gain.	Y Wendell Ford (Democratic) 50.56% Tom Emberton (Republican) 44.35% Happy Chandler (Independent) 4.24% William Smith (American) 0.85%
Louisiana	John McKeithen	Democratic	1964	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Edwin Edwards (Democratic) 57.2% Dave Treen (Republican) 42.8%
Mississippi	John Bell Williams	Democratic	1967	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Bill Waller (Democratic) 77.02% Charles Evers (Independent) 22.13% Charles L. Sullivan (Independent) 0.85%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Kentucky, 6.21%

References

1. "Kentucky Constitution Section 71". Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
2. "Gov.-elect Bryant's 8 appointments could impact college board". November 22, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
3. Honan, William (June 5, 1999). "J. J. McKeithen, 81, Governor Of Louisiana, 1964 to 1972". The New York Times . Retrieved November 3, 2013.