1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election

The 1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1979, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Cliff Finch was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As of 2020, this was the most recent election in which a Democrat won over 60 percent of the statewide vote in a gubernatorial election.

1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election
November 7, 1979
 
Nominee William Winter Gil Carmichael
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 413,620 263,702
Percentage 61.1% 38.9%
County Results

Winter:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

Carmichael:      50-60%
Governor before election

Cliff Finch
Democratic

 Elected Governor

William Winter
Democratic

Elections in Mississippi
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House
State government
State elections
Gubernatorial elections
Attorney General elections
Ballot measures
City of Jackson
Mayoral elections

Democratic primary

No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured 6 contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by former Lieutenant Governor William Winter, who defeated Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Gandy.

Results
Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1979[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Evelyn Gandy 224,746 30.49
Democratic William Winter 183,944 24.25
Democratic John Arthur Eaves, Sr. 143,411 19.45
Democratic Jim Herring 135,812 18.42
Democratic Charles M. Deaton 34,700 4.71
Democratic Richard Barrett 14,550 1.97
Total votes 737,163 100.00

Runoff
Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1979[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Winter 386,174 56.62
Democratic Evelyn Gandy 295,835 43.38
Total votes 682,009 100.00

Republican primary

In the Republican primary, businessman and 1975 nominee Gil Carmichael defeated farmer and businessman Leon Bramlett.

Results
Mississippi Republican gubernatorial primary, 1979[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Gil Carmichael 17,216 53.05
Republican Leon Bramlett 15,236 46.95
Total votes 32,452 100.00

General election

Results
Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1979[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Winter 413,620 61.07
Republican Gil Carmichael 263,702 38.93
Total votes 677,322 100.00
Democratic hold

References
  1. "MS Governor D Primary 1979". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  2. "MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1979". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  3. "MS Governor R Primary 1979". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  4. "MS Governor 1979". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.