Alabama gubernatorial election, 1986

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Alabama gubernatorial election, 1986
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Nominee H. Guy Hunt Bill Baxley
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,392,4061,074,326
Percentage56.4%43.6%
Alabama Governor 1986.svg
County results
Governor before election

George Wallace
Democratic

Elected Governor

H. Guy Hunt
Republican

The 1986 Alabama gubernatorial election saw the election of Republican H. Guy Hunt over Democrat Bill Baxley. In state politics, this election is largely seen as a realigning election since Hunt was the first Republican to be elected Governor since Reconstruction. In March 1986, incumbent George Wallace announced that he would not seek a fifth term as governor, ending an era in Alabama politics.

Republican Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

William Joseph Baxley II, is an American Democratic politician and attorney from Dothan, Alabama.

A realigning election is a term from political science and political history describing a dramatic change in the political system. Scholars frequently apply the term to American elections and occasionally to other countries. Usually it means the coming to power for several decades of a new coalition, replacing an old dominant coalition of the other party as in 1896 when the Republican Party (GOP) became dominant, or 1932 when the Democratic Party became dominant. More specifically, it refers to American national elections in which there are sharp changes in issues, party leaders, the regional and demographic bases of power of the two parties, and structure or rules of the political system, resulting in a new political power structure that lasts for decades.

Contents

Though Alabama had supported Republicans in national elections, state and local elections were dominated by Democrats so many people anticipated that the winner of the Democratic primary would win the election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Charles Allen Graddick Sr., was the 42nd Attorney General of Alabama from 1979-1987. He later served as a Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court of the U.S. state of Alabama.

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Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Bill Baxley345,98536.80
Democratic Charlie Graddick275,71429.33
Democratic Fob James195,84420.83
Democratic George McMillan117,25812.47
Democratic Barbara E. O'Neal5,2870.56
Total votes940,088100.00
Democratic runoff results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Charlie Graddick470,05150.47
Democratic Bill Baxley461,29549.53
Total votes931,346100.00

Controversy

The Democratic primary brought out a number of candidates. It resulted in a runoff between Lieutenant Governor Bill Baxley and Attorney General Charles Graddick. Graddick, the more conservative of the two Democrats, won the runoff election by a slim margin. Baxley challenged the results, and claimed that Graddick violated Democratic Party rules by encouraging people who voted in the Republican primary to cross over and vote in the Democratic runoff election. [3] While Republicans in the state have held open primaries for years, the Democrats bar Republicans and Independents from voting in its primary election. This challenge went to the Alabama Supreme Court, which ruled that crossover voting had taken place in large numbers and that the Democratic Party either had to select Baxley as the nominee or hold another runoff election. The party opted to name Baxley as its nominee. [4] [5]

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. The Democrats' dominant worldview was once social conservatism and economic liberalism while populism was its leading characteristic in the rural South. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate in the Progressive Party, beginning a switch of political platforms between the Democratic and Republican Party over the coming decades, and leading to Woodrow Wilson being elected as the first fiscally progressive Democrat. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social liberal platform, supporting social justice.

General election and aftermath

The selection of Baxley spurned a negative reaction from Graddick's supporters. As a result, they supported Guy Hunt in the general election, who won with 56 percent of the vote.

This election marked the transformation of politics in Alabama from a state dominated by many perspectives in one party to a two-party state. [6]

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The 1978 Alabama gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, to elect the Governor of Alabama. Incumbent Democratic Governor George Wallace did not run for re-election. Fob James, a businessman who had switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party and campaigned as a "born-again Democrat", won the Democratic primary in an upset over Attorney General Bill Baxley. He went on to defeat Guy Hunt in a landslide in the general election. Incumbent Democrat George Wallace was term limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1986 Gubernatorial Democratic Primary Election Results - Alabama". US Election Atlas. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ "1986 Gubernatorial Democratic Runoff Election Results - Alabama". US Election Atlas. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  3. ↑ http://www.leagle.com/decision/19861833641FSupp1192_11678.xml/HENDERSON%20v.%20GRADDICK
  4. ↑ http://openjurist.org/802/f2d/1302/curry-v-baker-j-and-d-graddick
  5. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/02/us/alabama-democrats-runoff-for-governor-is-thrown-out.html
  6. ↑ http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20090914/NEWS/909139948?p=all&tc=pgall
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