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1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election

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Field	Value
election_name	1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election
type	presidential
country	Mississippi
ongoing	no
previous_election	1967 Mississippi gubernatorial election
previous_year	1967
next_election	1975 Mississippi gubernatorial election
next_year	1975
election_date	November 2, 1971
flag_image	Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
image1	File:Bill Waller.jpg
image_size	160x160px
nominee1	Bill Waller
party1	Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote1	601,222
percentage1	77.0%
image2	File:Charles Evers, 1964.jpg
nominee2	Charles Evers
party2	Independent politician
popular_vote2	172,762
percentage2	22.1%
map_image	1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
map_size	170px
map_caption	County results
Waller:
Evers:
title	Governor
before_election	John Bell Williams
before_party	Democratic Party (United States)
after_election	Bill Waller
after_party	Democratic Party (United States)

Waller:
Evers:

The 1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on 2 November 1971 for the post of Governor of Mississippi. The incumbent governor, Democrat John Bell Williams, was ineligible due to term limits, a rule that was changed to two back-to-back terms in the 1980s.

Democrat Bill Waller, the former District Attorney of Hinds County, was chosen as his party's nominee in a contested primary. Running as an independent, mayor of Fayette Charles Evers became the first African-American candidate for governor of Mississippi.

To date, this is the most recent time that Rankin County voted Democratic in a gubernatorial election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Roy C. Adams, former state highway commissioner from Tupelo
Marshall Perry, circuit court judge from Grenada
Edwin L. Pittman, state senator from Hattiesburg
Andrew W. Sullivan, Jackson oilman
Charles L. Sullivan, Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi
Jimmy Swan, country music singer from Hattiesburg and candidate for governor in 1967
Bill Waller, former Hinds County prosecutor and candidate for governor in 1967

Results

30–40%}}

Democratic primary runoff

80–90%}}

Republican primary

No Republican primary was held.

General election

Candidates

Thomas Pickens Brady, Brookhaven judge (Independent)
Charles Evers, mayor of Fayette (Independent)
Bill Waller, former Hinds County prosecutor and candidate for governor in 1967 (Democratic)

Campaign

Evers' campaign was supported by civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, the Congressional Black Caucus, and Mayor of New York John Lindsay.

According to The New York Times, Waller ran a relatively moderate campaign. However, one report noted that Waller's campaign featured "racially ragged edges", such as airing radio commercials that played the song "Dixie" and receiving support from segregationist politicians like James Eastland.

Following Waller's victory, Evers drove across town to a local TV station to congratulate him. A reporter later wrote that:

Waller's aides learned Evers was in the building and tried to hustle the governor-elect out of the studio as soon as the interview ended. They were not quite quick enough. Surrounded by photographers, reporters, and television crews, Evers approached Waller's car just as it was about to pull out. Waller and his wife were in the back seat. "I just wanted to congratulate you," said Evers. "Whaddya say, Charlie?" boomed Waller. His wife leaned across with a stiff smile and shook the loser's hand. During the campaign Evers told reporters that his main purpose in running was to encourage registration of black voters.

Results

References

(22 November 2011). "Gov.-elect Bryant's 8 appointments could impact college board".
McFadden, Robert D.. (2020-07-22). "Charles Evers, Businessman and Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 97". The New York Times.
Times, Roy Reed Special to The New York. (1971-08-05). "Mississippi Rebuffs Anti‐Negro Politics". The New York Times.
Reed, Roy. (1971-11-03). "Evers Is Defeated In Large Turnout In Mississippi Vote". The New York Times.
Powers, Thomas. "Letter from a Lost Campaign". Harper's Magazine.
Sumners, Cecil L.. (1998). "The Governors of Mississippi". Pelican Publishing.

Info: 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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