1966 United States Senate election in Mississippi

none March 2026 September 2023 1966 United States Senate election in Mississippi Mississippi Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg presidential no 1960 United States Senate election in Mississippi 1960 1972 United States Senate election in Mississippi 1972 James_O_Eastland.jpg James Eastland Democratic Party (United States) 258,248 65.56% Prentiss_Walker.jpg Prentiss Walker Republican Party (United States) 105,150 26.70% Clifton R. Whitley 1966 Crop.jpg Clifton R. Whitley Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party 7.74% 30,502 1966 United States Senate election in Mississippi results map by county.svg 170px County resultsEastland: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Walker: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% U.S. Senator James Eastland Democratic Party (United States) James Eastland Democratic Party (United States) The 1966 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 8, 1966. Incumbent James Eastland, who first entered the Senate on 1941, was re-elected to a fifth term in office. He was challenged by U.S. Representative Prentiss Walker. Walker was the first Republican elected to Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction and was also the first such competitive Senate candidate.http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,899203,00.html Nation: Choosing Up June 17, 1966 Time January 6, 2018 en-US 0040-781X Democratic primary Candidates James Eastland, incumbent Senator Charles P. Mosby, candidate for Mississippi's 5th congressional district in 1964 Clifton Whitley, reverend and black civil rights leader Results thumb|center|170px|Primary results by county:Eastland: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d0596 >90%Whitley: #d3bc5f 50–60% 1966 Democratic U.S. Senate primary MS US Senate - D Primary https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=734224 OurCampaigns 16 August 2019 Democratic Party (United States) James Eastland (incumbent) 240,171 83.08% Democratic Party (United States) Clifton R. Whitley 34,323 11.87% Democratic Party (United States) Charles Mosby 14,591 5.05% 289,085 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Prentiss Walker, U.S. Representative from Mississippi's 4th congressional district Results Walker was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Independents and third parties Mississippi Freedom Democratic Clifton Whitley, reverend and civil rights leader Reverend Clifton Whitley also ran for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.http://crdl.usg.edu/people/w/whitley_clifton/ Whitley, Clifton crdl.usg.edu en January 6, 2018 January 6, 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180106231735/http://crdl.usg.edu/people/w/whitley_clifton/ dead A sore-loser law was invoked against Whitley, who had also run in the Democratic primary against Eastland. He only won his case one week before the election, thereby preventing to enter any serious campaign or fundraising. General election Campaign Eastland cast the civil rights movement with the tar of Communism and Black Power and raised the bloody shirt of Reconstruction against the candidacy of Walker. He was supported by segregationists Thomas Pickens Brady, George Wallace and Leander Perez. Walker, who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ran on the right of Eastland and solely focused on the white vote, accusing him of not being hard enough in opposing integration and being friendly with President Johnson, accusations to which Eastland partisans opposed the fact Walker nominated a black constituent, Marvell Lang, to the Air Force Academy.Danielson Chris Right Turn? The Republican Party and African-American Politics in Post-1965 Mississippi. https://www.academia.edu/2630532 enhttps://books.google.com/books?id=Nswst5LbIaEC&q=prentiss+walker+1966&pg=PA238 The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer Asch Chris Myers February 1, 2011 Univ of North Carolina Press 9780807878057 238–242 enhttps://books.google.com/books?id=PZ2DDAAAQBAJ&q=prentiss+walker+yerger&pg=PA1843 Big Jim Eastland: The Godfather of Mississippi Annis J. Lee July 21, 2016 Univ. Press of Mississippi 9781496806154 en Walker proudly announced he went to a meeting of the Americans for the Preservation of the White Race, a Ku Klux Klan front, enabling Eastland to proudly announce he was opposed by both the Klan and the AFL–CIO. Results Most of the White voters stayed with Eastland, and Walker ironically won African-Americans in southwestern Mississippi who wanted to cast a protest vote against Eastland. Years later, Wirt Yerger, the chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party in the 1960s, said that Walker's decision to relinquish his House seat after one term for the vagaries of a Senate race against Eastland was "very devastating" to the growth of the GOP in Mississippi.https://books.google.com/books?id=V0kTAAAAYAAJ&q=%22very+devastating%22+prentiss+walker The Journal of Mississippi History 1985 Mississippi Department of Archives and History 256 en General election resultshttp://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1966election.pdf Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1966 Clerk.house.gov 16 August 2015https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=7084 MS US Senate Race www.ourcampaigns.com 16 August 2018 Democratic Party (United States) James Eastland (incumbent) 258,248 65.56% Republican Party (United States) Prentiss Walker 105,150 26.69% 26.69 Independent (politician) Clifton R. Whitley 30,502 7.74% 7.74 153,098 38.87% 393,900 Democratic Party (United States) See also 1966 United States Senate elections References 1966 Mississippi United States Senate