1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi

none March 2026 September 2023 1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi Mississippi Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg presidential no 1982 United States Senate election in Mississippi 1982 November 8, 1988 1994 United States Senate election in Mississippi 1994 Trent Lott 98th Congress.png Trent Lott Republican Party (United States) 510,380 53.91% 1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi results map by county.svg 170px County resultsLott: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Dowdy: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% U.S. Senator John C. Stennis Democratic Party (United States) Trent Lott Republican Party (United States) x150px Wayne Dowdy.png Wayne Dowdy Democratic Party (United States) 436,339 46.09% The 1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John C. Stennis decided to retire instead of seeking a seventh full term. Republican Trent Lott won the open seat, becoming the first of his party to win this seat since 1874. This was the first time since the end of Reconstruction in 1877 that Mississippi had two Republican senators serving concurrently.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 96 Democratic primary Candidates Wayne Dowdy, U.S. Representative from McComb since 1981 Dick Molpus, Secretary of State of Mississippi Gilbert Fountain, Biloxi pipefitter Dean Pittman managed Dowdy's campaign.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 103 During the campaign Molpus criticized Dowdy for his low voting attendance of 68 percent, a line of rhetoric which was later used by Republican nominee Trent Lott in the general election.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 103 Results Democratic primary resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=241325 MS US Senate - D Primary July 12, 2018 Our Campaigns Wayne Dowdy Democratic Party (United States) 189,954 53.46% Dick Molpus Democratic Party (United States) 152,126 42.81% Gilbert Fountain Democratic Party (United States) 13,276 3.74% 355,356 100% Republican primary Candidates Trent Lott, U.S. Representative from Pascagoula since 1973, House Minority Whip since 1981 General During Lott's tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives he opposed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, and the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day while Dowdy supported those bills. Robert Goodman, who Bill Minor named Dr. Feelgood for being able to portray candidates positively, was hired by Lott's campaign to create advertisements in anticipation to attacks on his voting record by Dowdy. Lott voted in favor of cutting Social Security spending while Dowdy voted against, but Lott argued that he was more likely to support Social Security as his mother lived off of it while Dowdy's family was worth $60 million.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 102 Blacks for Trent Lott was formed by Isadora Hyde and Cleve McDowell, a former field director for the NAACP in the Delta region, worked for Lott's campaign. Dowdy's campaign criticized Lott for only having hired two black people out of the 163 people he had hired since 1972. Lott claimed that he hired many black workers, but "I don't keep count" and later claimed he hired five or six black workers.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 104-105 Country musician Mel Tillis made radio ads for him targeted at rural areas in northern Mississippi.Moreland Steed Baker 1991 105 Dowdy received 87% of the black vote.Black Black 1992 356 Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error TrentLottRepublican WayneDowdyDemocratic Other /UndecidedThe Clarion-Ledger/WLOXMoreland Steed Baker 1991 106November 6, 1988 Bush, Lott way out front in statewide polls 1A The Clarion-Ledger https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/129322337/ live https://web.archive.org/web/20230802192705/https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger/129322337/ August 2, 2023 Newspapers.com October 31 – November 2, 1988817 LV±3.5%48%34%18% Endorsements List of Trent Lott endorsements Municipal officials Charles Evers, mayor of Fayette, Mississippi (1969–1981; 1985–1989)Moreland Steed Baker 1991 104 Newspapers The Commercial AppealMoreland Steed Baker 1991 106 List of Wayne Dowdy endorsements Newspapers The Clarion-LedgerMoreland Steed Baker 1991 106 Results General election resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=3444 MS US Senate May 17, 2019 Our Campaigns Republican Party (United States) Trent Lott 510,380 53.91% Democratic Party (United States) Wayne Dowdy 436,339 46.09% 946,719 100.0% Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) See also 1988 United States Senate elections References Works cited Black Earl Earl Black (political scientist) Black Merle Merle Black The Vital South: How Presidents Are Elected Harvard University Press 1992 https://archive.org/details/vitalsouthhowpre0000blac 0674941306 Moreland Laurence Steed Robert Baker Tod The 1988 Presidential Election in the South: Continuity Amidst Change in Southern Party Politics Praeger Publishers 1991 https://archive.org/details/1988presidential0000unse 0275931455 1988 Mississippi Category:1988 Mississippi elections