1977 Virginia gubernatorial election

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1977 Virginia gubernatorial election
Flag of Virginia.svg
  1973 November 8, 1977 1981  
Turnout62.7% (voting eligible) [1]
  John Dalton 1976.jpg Henry Howell 1972.jpg
Nominee John N. Dalton Henry Howell
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote699,302541,319
Percentage55.9%43.3%

1977 Virginia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County and independent city results
Dalton:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Howell:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

Mills E. Godwin, Jr.
Republican

Elected Governor

John N. Dalton
Republican

In the 1977 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., a Republican, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. John N. Dalton, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, was nominated by the Republican Party to run against the Democratic nominee, former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Henry Howell. [2]

Contents

This was the only instance in Virginia's history in which the Republican Party won the gubernatorial election for a third time consecutively.

Primaries

Democratic

Henry Howell, who was elected lieutenant governor in 1971 and unsuccessful ran for governor in 1973, was an opponent of the Byrd machine and one of the most liberal politicians in Virginia at the time. [3] Attorney General Andrew P. Miller was the highest elected Democratic official in the state. Miller's father, Francis Pickens Miller, ran as an anti-Byrd candidate in the 1949 gubernatorial election. [4]

14.4% of the voting age population participated in the Democratic primary. [5]

Republican

Governor Mills Godwin, a former Democrat, was supported by the Byrd machine, but John N. Dalton was a lifelong Republican and his father, Theodore Roosevelt Dalton, ran as the Republican nominee against a Byrd-backed Democrat in the 1953 gubernatorial election. [4]

Results

Virginia gubernatorial election, 1977 [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican John N. Dalton 699,302 55.90% +5.19%
Democratic Henry Howell 541,31943.27%−5.99%
Independent Alan Ogden10,1010.81%
Write-ins2180.02%
Majority157,98312.63%+11.18%
Turnout 1,250,940
Republican hold Swing

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References

  1. Virginia Department of Elections (2016). "Registration/Turnout Statistics". The Commonwealth of Virginia. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1980, p. 83.
  4. 1 2 Steed, Moreland & Baker 1980, p. 85.
  5. Steed, Moreland & Baker 1980, p. 84.
  6. "Our Campaigns - VA Governor Race - Nov 08, 1977".

Works cited