1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election

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1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election
Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
  1971 November 4, 1975 1979  
  Cliff Finch.jpg Gil Carmichael.png
Nominee Cliff Finch Gil Carmichael
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote369,568319,632
Percentage52.19%45.14%

1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results

Finch:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%

Contents

Carmichael:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%

Governor before election

Bill Waller
Democratic

Elected Governor

Cliff Finch
Democratic

The 1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1975, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Bill Waller was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As of 2022, this was the last time Washington County voted for the Republican candidate.

Democratic primary

No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured 6 contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by former state representative Cliff Finch, who defeated Lieutenant Governor William Winter.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1975 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic William Winter 286,652 36.29
Democratic Cliff Finch 253,829 32.14
Democratic Maurice Dantin 179,47222.72
Democratic John Arthur Eaves 50,6066.41
Democratic Leman Gandy11,9661.52
Democratic David Perkins7,3690.93
Total votes789,894 100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1975 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Cliff Finch 442,865 57.69
Democratic William Winter 324,74942.31
Total votes767,614 100.00

General election

Campaign

During the campaign, Finch forged a coalition of African American and working class white voters in a populist-style gubernatorial campaign, adopted the campaign slogan "The working man's friend". This campaign tactic proved popular as Finch was elected over Republican nominee Gil Carmichael and the African American independent candidate Henry Kirksey. Carmichael did, however, draw 45 percent of the vote, an exceptionally high figure for a statewide Republican candidate at that time.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1975 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Cliff Finch 369,568 52.19
Republican Gil Carmichael 319,63245.14
Independent Henry Jay Kirksey18,8832.67
Total votes708,083 100.00
Democratic hold

Analysis

Historian David Sansing described Mississippi's 1975 gubernatorial election as "one of the most unusual in the state's history". [4]

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References

  1. "MS Governor D Primary 1975". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. "MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1975". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  3. "MS Governor 1975". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  4. Sansing 2016, p. 215.

Works cited