Florida gubernatorial election, 1966

Florida gubernatorial election, 1966
	County Results Kirk: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%High: 50–60% 60–70%
Governor before election; W. Haydon Burns ; Democratic	Elected Governor; Claude Roy Kirk Jr. ; Republican

Last updated April 01, 2019

The Florida gubernatorial election of 1966 took place on November 8, 1966. During the primary election, the results from the Democratic Party was close among three of the four candidates. Thus, the top two Democrat candidates – incumbent Governor of Florida William "Haydon" Burns and Mayor of Miami Robert King High – competed in a runoff election on May 24, 1966. In an upset outcome, Robert King High was chosen over W. Haydon Burns as the Democratic Gubernatorial nominee. In contrast, the Republican primary was rather uneventful, with businessman Claude Roy Kirk Jr. easily securing the Republican nomination against Richard Muldrew. In the general election, Claude Kirk won by a margin of 55.13%-44.86% against Robert King High, becoming the first Republican Governor of Florida since the Reconstruction Era.

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.

William Haydon Burns was an American politician. He was Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1949 to 1965, and served as the 35th Governor of Florida from 1965 to 1967.

Robert King High was an attorney and politician, a reform mayor of Miami, Florida, serving for over a decade from January 1957 until his death in August 1967. From eastern Tennessee, High moved to Florida after his service in World War II. He became active in the Democratic Party.

Background

Democratic Haydon Burns, who won the gubernatorial election in 1964, was up for re-election. Although gubernatorial elections in Florida are normally every four years, the cycle of gubernatorial elections was changed so as not to coincide with presidential election years. Thus, the Governor of Florida elected in 1964 would serve from January 5, 1965 to January 3, 1967, while the next term would last from January 3, 1967 – January 5, 1971.^[1]

Democratic nomination

Candidates

Incumbent Governor Haydon Burns
Mayor of Miami and candidate for 1964 nomination Robert King High
State Senator and candidate for 1964 nomination Scott Kelly of Lakeland
Sam Foor

The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The Senate is composed of 40 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of approximately 470,000 residents. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Senators' terms begin immediately, upon their election. The Senate Chamber is located in the State Capitol building.

Sherrod Scott Kelly was an American politician. A Democrat, he served in the Florida Senate from 1957 to 1963, representing the seventh district.

Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. The westernmost city in Polk County, it is part of the Tampa Bay Area. According to the 2013 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 100,710. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated population of 623,009 in July 2013 based on data from the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research. It is twinned with Richmond Hill, Ontario; Imabari, Ehime, Japan; Bălți, Moldova; Portmore, Jamaica; and Chongming County, Shanghai, China through the Lakeland chapter of Sister Cities International.

In September 1965, a poll with a sample size exceeding 3,000 people indicated Governor Haydon Burns had an approval rating of 75%. However, by March 1966, the Governor's approval rating fell to 56%, due to Burn's alleged dishonesty, lack of integrity, and showing favoritism. In that same "confidential" poll Robert High surprisingly led Haydon Burns by 34%-28.5%, while Scott Kelly received 18.5% and 19% were left undecided. Due to the "stunning" results this poll conducted by Haydon Burns' campaign managers, they attempted to cover up it up.^[2] By the end of November, the three major Democratic candidates in 1964 all announced their intention to run for governor in 1966, which were incumbent Governor Haydon Burns, Mayor of Miami Robert King, and State Senator Scott Kelly. Additionally, it was speculated that former Governor Thomas "LeRoy" Collins would also challenge Burns in the primary,^[3] but instead ran for United States Senate in 1968.^[4] Eventually a fourth person, Tallahassee publisher Sam Foor, decided to enter the race, though he was not considered a "serious contender".^[5]

Thomas LeRoy Collins was an American attorney and politician, the 33rd Governor of Florida, serving a special term in 1955, and being elected to a four-year term in 1956, serving through 1961. He was previously elected to several terms in the Florida House of Representatives and Senate. He was the first governor of the South to promote the moral necessity of ending segregation. Counseling "progress under law", he took a moderate course during the civil rights movement and is remembered as a voice for civil rights.

Tallahassee is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2017, the population was 191,049, making it the 7th-largest city in the U.S state of Florida, and the 126th-largest city in the United States. The population of the Tallahassee metropolitan area was 382,627 as of 2017. Tallahassee is the largest city in the Florida Panhandle region, and the main center for trade and agriculture in the Florida Big Bend and Southwest Georgia regions.

Both the Democratic and Republican primary election took place on May 3, 1966. The results of the Democratic primary were Haydon Burns with 372,451 votes (35.35%), Robert High with 338,281 votes (32.11%), Scott Kelly with 331,580 votes (31.47%), and Sam Foor with 11,343 votes (1.08%). Because none of the four candidates received at a majority of votes, a runoff election was held between Haydon Burns and Robert King, the top two candidates, on May 24, 1966. After the run-off election, Robert High defeated Haydon Burns by a margin of 596,471-509,271 (53.94%-46.065). Thus, Robert King High was the Democratic nominee for the 1966 gubernatorial election in Florida.

Democratic Primary – May 3, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	W. Haydon Burns	372,451	35.35
	Democratic	Robert King High	338,281	32.11
	Democratic	Scott Kelly	331,580	31.47
	Democratic	Sam Foor	11,343	1.08
Total votes			1,053,655	100

Democratic Primary run-off – May 24, 1966
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert King High	596,471	53.94
	Democratic	W. Haydon Burns	509,471	46.06
Total votes			1,053,655	100

Republican nomination

1964 United States Senate nominee Claude Roy Kirk won nomination over his opponent Richard Muldrew.

Richard Benjamin Muldrew was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1957 to 1959. He served on the Brevard County Commission from 1960 to 1970.

General election

After a bitter Democratic primary election, defeated incumbent Governor Haydon Burns refused to endorse nominee Robert High. However, High was able to draw endorsements from major Florida newspapers, labor unions, and other Democratic politicians in Florida. High made unpopular proposals, such as a severance tax on phosphate and tightening the sales tax on all products except food and drugs. Republican nominee Claude Kirk promised to veto new taxes and abolish a program calling for several millions of dollars in additional taxation. Kirk also noted that a vote for him would be a vote against inflation and warned voters about the "Johnson – Humphrey-High Administration". The general election campaign was described as "dreary", with a projected voter turnout of less than 65%.^[6]

Lyndon Baines Johnson, often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. Formerly the 37th vice president of the United States from 1961 to 1963, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson also served as a United States Representative and as the Majority Leader in the United States Senate. Johnson is one of only four people who have served in all four federal elected positions.

Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. was an American politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 and 1971 to 1978. He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 1968 presidential election, losing to Republican nominee Richard Nixon.

On Election Day – November 8 – Claude Kirk won the general election with 821,190 (55.13%) votes versus Robert High's 668,233 (44.86%) votes. As a result, Claude Kirk became the first Republican elected to the office of Governor of Florida since Ossian B. Hart in 1872. At the time of the election, the Florida Constitution did not include a provision allowing a lieutenant governor. However, after a new state constitution was adopted in 1968, Governor Kirk appointed Ray C. Osborn as Lieutenant Governor of Florida, the first to serve in that office since Milton H. Mabry in 1889.

Claude Roy Kirk (R) – 821,190 (55.13%)
Robert King High (D) – 668,233 (44.86%)
Others (write-in) – 238 (0.02%)

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References

↑ Michael Mello, Deathwork: Defending the Condemned, University of Minnesota Press, 2002, ISBN 0-8166-4088-2, ISBN 978-0-8166-4088-1
↑ Rowland Evans and Robert Novak (March 15, 1966). "Poll Shows High Leading Burns". Tampa Bay Times . Retrieved September 25, 2012.
↑ Jack Ledden (November 28, 1965). "'Rerun' Governor's Race Seen For 1966". The Palm Beach Post . Retrieved September 25, 2012.
↑ "FL US Senate". Our Campaigns. March 23, 2003. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
↑ "Six Vie For Governor Nominations". Sarasota Herald-Tribune . United Press International. May 3, 1966. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
↑ "Is It High Or Kirk? Ballot To Tell Tale". Palm Beach Daily News . United Press International. November 8, 1966. Retrieved September 24, 2012.

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