1974 Alabama Senate election

1974 Alabama Senate election

← 1970 November 5, 1974 1978 →
All 35 seats in the Alabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Pierre Pelham (did not stand) — Party Democratic National Democratic Leader since January 12, 1971 — Leader's seat 24 p.2–Mobile [1] (seat abolished) — Last election 35 seats, 76.4% 0 seats, 16.7% Seats won 35 0 Popular vote 97,181 [a] 12,496 Percentage 78.45% 10.09%
District results Democratic:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     90–100%     Unopposed
President pro tempore before election Pierre Pelham Democratic Elected President pro tempore Joe Fine Democratic

Not to be confused with 1974 United States Senate election in Alabama.

The 1974 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 5, 1974, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama Senate. The result was an electoral shutout, as all 35 candidates elected were members of the Democratic Party. This election was notable for seeing the first two Black Americans elected to the chamber since the Reconstruction era, those being U. W. Clemon and J. Richmond Pearson.

Primaries were held on May 7 with runoffs on June 4. This was the first state senate election in Alabama since a 1973 federal court order mandated a new legislative map with single-member districts. Previously, the state used a mixed system of single-member and multi-member districts to allocate seats in the legislature, all based on pre-existing county lines. ^[2]

Summary

Party		Candidates			Seats
		Num.	Vote	%	Before	Won	+/–
	Democratic	35	97,181	78.45%	35	35
	NDPA	4	12,496	10.09%	0	0
	Republican	3	5,517	4.45%	0	0
	Independents	2	5,371	4.34%	0	0
	Conservative	2	3,308	2.67%	0	0

Incumbents

Re-elected

• Dick Owen of Baldwin County ran in the 32nd district and won.
• Obie Littleton of Chilton County ran in the 18th district and won.
• Crum Foshee of Covington County ran in the 25th district and won.
• Walter C. Givhan of Dallas County ran in the 29th district and won.
• Joe Fine of Franklin County ran in the 2nd district and won.
• Eddie Hubert Gilmore of Jefferson County ran in the 17th district and won.
• Bill King of Jefferson County ran in the 7th district and won.
• Pat Vacca of Jefferson County ran in the 12th district and won.
• L. W. Noonan of Mobile County ran in the 34th district and won.
• Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa County ran in the 16th district and won.
• Bobby Weaver of Talladega County ran in the 19th district and won.
• Robert Wilson of Walker County ran in the 5th district and won.

Defeated in Democratic primary

• Fred Ray Lybrand of Calhoun County ran in the 20th district and lost in the first round.
• George Lewis Bailes of Jefferson County ran in the 11th district and lost in the first round.
• Doug Cook of Jefferson County ran in the 17th district and lost in the runoff.
• Tom Jones of Montgomery County ran in the 27th district and lost in the first round.
• L. L. Dozier of Pike County ran in the 23rd district and lost in the runoff.
• Robert Wilder of Tallapoosa County ran in the 21st district and lost in the first round.

Did not seek re-election

• James S. Clark of Barbour County did not seek re-election.
• Don Horne of Chambers County did not seek re-election.
• Pat Lindsey of Choctaw County did not seek re-election.
• Kenneth Hammond of DeKalb County did not seek re-election.
• Richard Malone of Etowah County did not seek re-election.
• James A. Branyon of Fayette County did not seek re-election.
• Larry Register of Houston County did not seek re-election.
• Richard Dominick of Jefferson County did not seek re-election.
• John Hawkins of Jefferson County did not seek re-election.
• Stewart O'Bannon of Lauderdale County did not seek re-election.
• Gene McLain of Madison County did not seek re-election.
• Aubrey J. Carr of Marshall County did not seek re-election.
• Bob Edington of Mobile County did not seek re-election.
• President pro tempore Pierre Pelham of Mobile County did not seek re-election.
• J. J. Pierce of Montgomery County did not seek re-election.
• Bob Harris of Morgan County did not seek re-election.
• Roland Cooper of Wilcox County did not seek re-election.

General election results

District	Democratic			National Democratic			Others			Total
	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	Maj.	Mrg.
5th	Robert Wilson (inc.)	7,856	81.16%	—	—	—	Larry Akins (Rep.)	1,824	18.84%	9,680	+6,032	+62.31%
7th	Bill King	14,953	90.57%	Ernestine Langford	1,557	9.43%	—	—	—	16,510	+13,396	+81.14%
13th	J. Richmond Pearson	11,412	84.13%	—	—	—	Herbert Stone (Con.)	2,152	15.87%	13,564	+9,260	+68.27%
20th	Donald Stewart	10,409	74.20%	—	—	—	Margaret E. Stout (Rep.)	3,619	25.80%	14,028	+6,790	+48.40%
23rd	T. Dudley Perry	4,829	98.49%	—	—	—	Rudolph Shelley (Rep.)	74	1.51%	4,903	+4,755	+96.98%
26th	Jerry Powell	8,985	55.27%	Oscar Cook	1,901	11.69%	2 others [b]	5,371	33.04%	16,257	+5,000	+30.76%
29th	Walter C. Givhan (inc.)	12,231	69.45%	Amelia Boynton Robinson	5,380	30.55%	—	—	—	17,611	+6,851	+38.90%
30th	Bert Bank	12,516	77.38%	Martin Goodson	3,658	22.62%	—	—	—	16,174	+8,858	+54.77%
35th	Bill Roberts	13,990	92.37%	—	—	—	Charles McDade (Con.)	1,156	7.63%	15,146	+12,834	+84.74%
Source: The Birmingham News [3]

Elected unopposed

The following Democratic nominees did not face opposition in the general election: ^[4]

• District 1: Ronnie Flippo
• District 2: Joe Fine (inc.)
• District 3: Bingham Edwards
• District 4: Finis St. John
• District 6: Albert McDonald
• District 8: John Baker (inc.)
• District 9: Sid McDonald
• District 10: Gerald Waldrop
• District 11: George McMillan
• District 12: Paul Vacca (inc.)
• District 14: Bob Ellis
• District 15: U. W. Clemon
• District 16: Richard Shelby (inc.)
• District 17: Eddie Hubert Gilmore (inc.)
• District 18: Obie Littleton (inc.)
• District 19: Robert Weaver (inc.)
• District 21: Ted Little
• District 22: C. C. Torbert
• District 24: Sam Adams
• District 25: Crum Foshee (inc.)
• District 27: Fred Jones
• District 28: Wendell Mitchell
• District 31: Maston Mims
• District 32: Dick Owen (inc.)
• District 33: Mike Perloff
• District 34: L. W. Noonan (inc.)

Democratic primary results

Runoff results by district

Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who was the runner-up in the first round. Senator Bobby Weaver initially faced a runoff in District 19 against Frank Finch, but Finch withdrew from the race, allowing Weaver to advance to the general election, where he went unopposed. ^[5]

District	Winner			Loser			Total
	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	Maj.	Mrg.
3rd	Bingham Edwards*	13,547	60.62%	Joe Calvin	8,801	39.38%	22,348	+4,746	+21.24%
6th	Albert McDonald	7,157	53.41%	Granville Turner	6,244	46.59%	13,401	+913	+6.81%
13th	J. Richmond Pearson	8,456	61.27%	Thomas L. Alexander	5,346	38.73%	13,802	+3,110	+22.53%
14th	Robert Ellis	7,893	55.90%	Johnny Nichols	6,227	44.10%	14,120	+1,666	+11.80%
17th	Eddie Hubert Gilmore	9,902	51.26%	Doug Cook	9,417	48.74%	19,319	+485	+2.51%
23rd	Dudley Perry	14,544	56.41%	L. L. Dozier	11,238	43.59%	25,782	+3,306	+12.82%
31st	Maston Mims*	11,589	51.65%	W. E. Garrett	10,850	48.35%	22,439	+739	+3.29%
32nd	Dick Owen	11,356	51.85%	Robert Gulledge	10,547	48.15%	21,903	+809	+3.69%
33rd	Mike Perloff	6,331	51.60%	James E. Buskey	5,938	48.40%	12,269	+393	+3.20%
35th	Bill Roberts	9,792	58.65%	Casey Downing	6,903	41.35%	16,695	+2,889	+17.30%
Source: The Birmingham News [6]

First round results by district

Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.

District	First place			Runners-up			Others			Total
	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Candidate	Votes	%	Votes	Maj.	Mrg.
3rd	Joe Calvin	6,907	32.16%	Bingham Edwards	6,701	31.21%	2 others [c]	7,866	36.63%	21,474	+206	+0.96%
5th	Robert Wilson*	11,144	59.77%	Doug Adams	7,500	40.23%	—	—	—	18,644	+3,644	+19.55%
6th	Albert McDonald	6,137	37.63%	Granville Turner	5,522	33.86%	Charles Sullins	4,648	28.50%	16,307	+615	+3.77%
7th	Bill King*	9,823	56.33%	Charles Grainger	7,614	43.67%	—	—	—	17,437	+2,209	+12.67%
8th	John Baker*	11,348	64.53%	W. R. Inman	6,237	35.47%	—	—	—	17,585	+5,111	+29.06%
9th	Sid McDonald	10,180	47.62%	Woodie Shelton	3,174	14.85%	3 others [d]	8,024	37.53%	21,378	+7,006	+32.77%
10th	Gerald Waldrop*	12,830	50.21%	Les Gilliland	8,105	31.72%	Robert Lewis	4,620	18.08%	25,555	+4,725	+18.49%
11th	George McMillan*	9,992	50.58%	George Lewis Bailes	9,764	49.42%	—	—	—	19,756	+228	+1.15%
12th	Pat Vacca*	10,824	62.12%	James K. Watley	6,601	37.88%	—	—	—	17,425	+4,223	+24.24%
13th	J. Richmond Pearson	5,458	34.04%	Thomas L. Alexander	3,756	23.43%	4 others [e]	6,819	42.53%	16,033	+1,702	+10.62%
14th	Robert Ellis	7,967	44.39%	Johnny Nichols	5,209	29.02%	E. C. Reese	4,771	26.58%	17,947	+2,758	+15.37%
17th	Eddie Hubert Gilmore	9,127	42.48%	Doug Cook	6,840	31.84%	Tom Stubbs	5,516	25.68%	21,483	+2,287	+10.65%
18th	Obie Littleton*	11,640	54.60%	Lister Hill Proctor	9,679	45.40%	—	—	—	21,319	+1,961	+9.20%
19th	Bobby Weaver	8,285	49.21%	Frank Finch	4,492	26.68%	Allen Hudson	4,060	24.11%	16,837	+3,793	+22.53%
20th	Donald Stewart*	15,076	67.28%	Fred Ray Lybrand	7,333	32.72%	—	—	—	22,409	+7,743	+34.55%
21st	T. D. Little*	12,340	55.36%	Robert Wilder	9,952	44.64%	—	—	—	22,292	+2,388	+10.71%
22nd	C. C. Torbert Jr.*	10,947	64.82%	Charles Adams	5,942	35.18%	—	—	—	16,889	+5,005	+29.63%
23rd	Dudley Perry	10,507	44.87%	L. L. Dozier	9,880	42.19%	K. H. Walker	3,029	12.94%	23,416	+627	+2.68%
24th	Sam Adams*	12,496	78.71%	Mack Rudd	3,380	21.29%	—	—	—	15,876	+9,116	+57.42%
25th	Crum Foshee	13,374	53.45%	Harold Wise	11,649	46.55%	—	—	—	25,023	+1,725	+6.89%
26th	Jerry Powell*	9,768	65.47%	Oscar David Cook	5,152	34.53%	—	—	—	14,920	+4,616	+30.94%
27th	Fred Jones*	10,555	51.64%	Tom Jones	9,885	48.36%	—	—	—	20,440	+670	+3.28%
28th	Wendell Mitchell*	16,301	73.67%	Robert Austin	5,825	26.33%	—	—	—	22,126	+10,476	+47.35%
29th	Walter C. Givhan*	16,988	57.83%	J. L. Chestnut	12,390	42.17%	—	—	—	29,378	+4,598	+15.65%
30th	Bert Bank*	15,511	67.01%	William Lang	7,638	32.99%	—	—	—	23,149	+7,873	+34.01%
31st	W. E. Garrett	8,640	36.65%	Maston Mims	7,460	31.65%	2 others [f]	7,473	31.70%	23,573	+1,180	+5.01%
32nd	Dick Owen	9,900	45.07%	Robert Gulledge	7,703	35.07%	Percy Beech	4,363	19.86%	21,966	+2,197	+10.00%
33rd	Mike Perloff	4,255	32.98%	James E. Buskey	3,560	27.59%	2 others [g]	5,088	39.43%	12,903	+695	+5.39%
35th	Bill Roberts	6,690	45.98%	Casey Downing	5,884	40.44%	Nelson Burnett	1,975	13.57%	14,549	+806	+5.54%
Source: The Birmingham News [7]

See also

• 1974 United States Senate election in Alabama
• 1974 Alabama gubernatorial election
• List of Alabama state legislatures

Notes

1. Unofficial results. Does not include uncontested seats.
2. • William Hobbie (Ind.): 3,985, 24.51%
   • J.D. Hogan (Ind.): 1,386, 8.53%
3. • Don Tomlinson: 4,918, 22.90%
   • Dewayne Cameron: 2,948, 13.73%
4. • B. B. Sanford: 3,059, 14.31%
   • B. E. McPherson: 2,589, 12.11%
   • Roger Southerland: 2,376 11.11%
5. • Dick Shamburger: 2,213, 13.80%
   • Paul Thomason: 2,028, 12.65%
   • Al Thomas: 1,698, 10.59%
   • Hiram Crawford: 880, 5.49%
6. • Ernest Jackson: 5,623, 23.85%
   • Henry Welch: 1,850, 7.85%
7. • Henry Rembert: 2,629, 20.38%
   • Arnold L. Black: 2,459, 19.06%

References

1. "Negro Attorney Running in Front In Race For State Legislative Seat". The Mobile Register . Associated Press. 4 November 1970. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
2. Sellers, Bill (6 February 1974). "Reapportionment Causes Headaches For Many In State". The Mobile Register . Retrieved 31 May 2025.
3. Fox, Al (6 November 1974). "Alabama Senate remains solid Democratic; two blacks elected". The Birmingham News . Retrieved 31 May 2025.
4. "2 incumbent state senators re-elected". Birmingham Post-Herald . 7 November 1974. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
5. "Finch pulls out of senate runoff". The Anniston Star . May 17, 1974. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
6. Fox, Al (June 11, 1974). "Here's what official vote count to show". The Birmingham News . Retrieved 31 May 2025.
7. Fox, Al (May 14, 1974). "Only 13 state senators have chance of returning next year". The Birmingham News . Retrieved 31 May 2025.