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1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election

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Summary

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Field	Value
election_name	1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election
country	Arkansas
flag_year	1924
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	1964 Arkansas gubernatorial election
previous_year	1964
next_election	1968 Arkansas gubernatorial election
next_year	1968
election_date	November 8, 1966
image1	Winthrop Rockefeller 1967 (cropped).jpg
nominee1	Winthrop Rockefeller
party1	Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote1	306,324
percentage1	54.36%
image2	[[File:No image.svg	x120px]]
nominee2	James D. Johnson
party2	Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote2	257,203
percentage2	45.64%
map_image	1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
map_size	210px
map_caption	County results
title	Governor
before_election	Orval Faubus
before_party	Democratic Party (United States)
after_election	Winthrop Rockefeller
after_party	Republican Party (United States)

Rockefeller:

Johnson:
|}} The 1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1966. Winthrop Rockefeller was elected governor of Arkansas, becoming the first Republican to be elected to the office since Reconstruction in 1872.

The election occurred amidst strong midterm results for the Republican Party nationally, and in the traditionally-Democratic South. Republicans concurrently won the governorship of Florida also for the first time since Reconstruction, and only narrowly lost the governorship of Georgia, despite winning a plurality of the vote.

Democratic primary

Popular and powerful six-term (since 1955) incumbent Orval E. Faubus decided against seeking re-election. "Justice Jim" Johnson, a political ally of George C. Wallace of Alabama, ran a segregationist campaign with support of the White Citizens Council. A decade earlier, Johnson had run in the Democratic primary against Faubus, another segregationist, whom he accused of working behind the scenes for racial integration.

Candidates

Thomas Dale Alford, former U.S. Representative and candidate for governor in 1962
Sam Boyce, attorney and former State Representative
Brooks Hays, former U.S. Representative and candidate for governor in 1930
Frank Holt, State Supreme Court Associate Justice and Attorney General
James D. "Justice Jim" Johnson, State Supreme Court Associate Justice, former State Senator and candidate for governor in 1956
Raymond Rebsamen, insurance executive and Ford dealer
Kenneth S. Sulcer, state senator and real estate broker

Results

Holt was supported by many younger, more liberal, Democrats, such as future governor and U.S. President Bill Clinton, who served as his campaign aide though he was not old enough to vote at the time.

Republican primary

A northeastern native, multimillionaire and scion of a prominent political/business family Winthrop Rockefeller was nominated with over 96% of the vote over Gus McMillan of Sheridan. Charges abounded that McMillan, a lifelong Democrat, was planted in the race by Faubus in order to force the Republicans to hold an expensive and needless primary. Rockefeller had been the GOP nominee in the 1964 election.

Campaign

Rockefeller was an unusual candidate – an eastern establishment member and moderate-to-liberal party wing member (such as his brother, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, an unofficial leader of this wing for many years).

The Republican Party at this time practically played only a most minor role in Arkansas politics.

However, his popularity and the break within Democratic camp, where many were outraged with Johnson's segregationist stances, and good year for the Republicans nationally helped Rockefeller to win.

Results

References

[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=382417 Our Campaigns – AR Governor – D Primary Race – Jul 26, 1966]
[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=376039 Our Campaigns – AR Governor – D Runoff Race – Aug 09, 1966]
[http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=261822 Our Campaigns - AR Governor Race - Nov 08, 1966]

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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