The 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958. Incumbent Democrat Jim Folsom was term limited and could not seek a second consecutive term.
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County results Patterson: 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic Party nomination edit
At this time Alabama was a de facto one-party state. Because of this, every Democratic Party nominee was considered safe for election. The real contest for governor took place during the primary.
Popular incumbent Governor Jim Folsom, a racial moderate, was barred from running for reelection, as Governors could not succeed themselves at the time. Therefore, the Democratic primary was an open contest.
Candidates edit
- Laurie C. Battle, U.S. Representative
- John G. Crommelin, retired Rear Admiral
- W. E. Dodd
- Shearen Elebash
- Jimmy Faulkner, former State Senator and former Mayor of Bay Minette
- James Gulatte
- Karl Harrison
- George C. Hawkins, State Representative
- C. C. Owen
- John Malcolm Patterson, Attorney General
- Shorty Price
- A. W. Todd, Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries
- Billy Walker
- George Wallace, Third Judicial Circuit Judge and former State Representative
The two front-runners, Patterson and Wallace, held deeply different positions on racial segregation issues. While Patterson, known primarily as crime-fighting attorney general, ran on a very segregationist platform and accepted an official endorsement from the Ku Klux Klan, Wallace, a close ally of Folsom, refused to cooperate with the KKK and was endorsed by the NAACP.
After the election, aide Seymore Trammell recalled Wallace saying, "Seymore, you know why I lost that governor's race? ... I was outniggered by John Patterson. And I'll tell you here and now, I will never be outniggered again."<ref group="note">Carter (1996, p. 2) notes that Wallace later denied a similar quotation that appeared in a 1968 biography by Marshall Frady: "'Well boys,' he said tightly as he snuffed out his cigar, 'no other son-of-a-bitch will ever out-nigger me again.'" Riechers, Maggie (March–April 2000). "Racism to Redemption: The Path of George Wallace". Humanities. 21 (2). Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2006.
Primary results edit
Primaries were held on June 3, 1958.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John Malcolm Patterson | 196,859 | 31.82 | |
Democratic | George Wallace | 162,435 | 26.26 | |
Democratic | Jimmy Faulkner | 91,512 | 14.79 | |
Democratic | A. W. Todd | 59,240 | 9.58 | |
Democratic | Laurie C. Battle | 38,955 | 6.30 | |
Democratic | George C. Hawkins | 24,332 | 3.93 | |
Democratic | C. C. Owen | 15,270 | 2.47 | |
Democratic | Karl Harrison | 12,488 | 2.02 | |
Democratic | Billy Walker | 7,963 | 1.29 | |
Democratic | W. E. Dodd | 4,753 | 0.77 | |
Democratic | John G. Crommelin | 2,245 | 0.36 | |
Democratic | Shearen Elebash | 1,177 | 0.19 | |
Democratic | James Gulatte | 798 | 0.13 | |
Democratic | Shorty Price | 655 | 0.11 | |
Total votes | 618,682 | 100.00 |
Runoff edit
Because none of the candidates won a majority, a runoff was held on June 24, 1958, in order to determine which candidate received the nomination.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John Malcolm Patterson | 315,353 | 55.74 | |
Democratic | George Wallace | 250,451 | 44.27 | |
Total votes | 565,804 | 100 |
Republican Party nomination edit
William Longshore, a former Republican Party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 9th district (lost, winning 34.12% votes) won the gubernatorial nomination unopposed.
General election edit
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | John Malcolm Patterson | 234,583 | 88.22 | +14.85% | |
Republican | William Longshore | 30,415 | 11.44 | -15.19% | |
Independent | William Jackson | 903 | 0.34 | N/A | |
Majority | 204,168 | ||||
Turnout | 265,901 | 76.78 | |||
Democratic hold |
After his defeat, George Wallace, who was a racial moderate, modified his public position in order to gain the white support necessary to win the next election.