1958 Alabama gubernatorial election

none related races 1958 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 June 2024 September 2023 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election Alabama presidential No 1954 Alabama gubernatorial election 1954 1962 Alabama gubernatorial election 1962 November 4, 1958 John Malcolm Patterson.jpg John M. Patterson Democratic Party (United States) 234,583 88.22% William Longshore.jpg William Longshore Republican Party (United States) 30,415 11.44% Governor Jim Folsom Democratic Party (United States) John M. Patterson Democratic Party (United States) 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 250px County resultsPatterson: #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d056c >90% 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. Democratic Party nomination 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 seeking a second consecutive term because the Alabama Constitution prohibited governors from succeeding themselves. Therefore, the Democratic primary was an open contest. Candidates 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."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 https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2000/marchapril/feature/racism-redemption dead Humanities 21 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20171210064143/https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2000/marchapril/feature/racism-redemption December 10, 2017 May 25, 2006 Primary results Primaries were held on June 3, 1958. Democratic primary results Democratic Party (United States) John Malcolm Patterson 196,859 31.82 Democratic Party (United States) George Wallace 162,435 26.26 Democratic Party (United States) Jimmy Faulkner 91,512 14.79 Democratic Party (United States) A. W. Todd 59,240 9.58 Democratic Party (United States) Laurie C. Battle 38,955 6.30 Democratic Party (United States) George C. Hawkins 24,332 3.93 Democratic Party (United States) C. C. Owen 15,270 2.47 Democratic Party (United States) Karl Harrison 12,488 2.02 Democratic Party (United States) Billy Walker 7,963 1.29 Democratic Party (United States) W. E. Dodd 4,753 0.77 Democratic Party (United States) John G. Crommelin 2,245 0.36 Democratic Party (United States) Shearen Elebash 1,177 0.19 Democratic Party (United States) James Gulatte 798 0.13 Democratic Party (United States) Shorty Price 655 0.11 618,682 100.00 Runoff thumb|center|Results map of the Democratic primary by county.Patterson: #8da9e2 50–60% #678cd7 60–70% #4170cd 70–80%Wallace: #c0a32f 50–60% #a88600 60–70% #907300 70–80% #564500 >90% 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. Democratic primary runoff results Democratic Party (United States) John Malcolm Patterson 315,353 55.74 Democratic Party (United States) George Wallace 250,451 44.27 565,804 100 Republican Party nomination 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 1958 Alabama gubernatorial election Democratic Party (United States) John Malcolm Patterson 234,583 88.22 +14.85% Republican Party (United States) William Longshore 30,415 11.44 -15.19% Independent politician William Jackson 903 0.34 N/A 204,168 265,901 76.78 Democratic Party (United States) 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. Notes References External links AL Governor Race Our Campaigns 2019-06-24 https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=80047 1958 Alabama Gubernatorial Alabama gubernatorial election