1983 Mississippi gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1983 Mississippi gubernatorial election presidential Mississippi Flag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg 1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election 1979 1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election 1987 no November 8, 1983 File:William Allain (1985) (cropped).png 150x150px William Allain Democratic Party (United States) 409,209 55.10% Leon Bramlett.jpg Leon Bramlett Republican Party (United States) 288,764 38.88% 1983 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 170px County resultsAllain: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Bramlett: #e27f7f 50–60% Governor William Winter Democratic Party (United States) William Allain Democratic Party (United States) The 1983 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1983, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat William Winter was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. 2023, this is the last time that Hinds County has voted for the Republican candidate. As of , this is the most recent Mississippi gubernatorial election to feature major party nominees who are now both deceased. Democratic primary No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Attorney General William Allain, who defeated former Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Gandy. Results Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1983http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=17289 MS Governor D Primary 1983 Our Campaigns December 3, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) Evelyn Gandy 316,304 38.19 Democratic Party (United States) William Allain 293,348 35.42 Democratic Party (United States) Mike Sturdivant 172,526 20.83 Democratic Party (United States) Lonnie C. Johnson 32,861 3.97 Democratic Party (United States) Billy Davis 13,172 1.59 828,211 100.00 Runoff Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1983http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=174162 MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1983 Our Campaigns December 3, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) William Allain 405,348 52.42 Democratic Party (United States) Evelyn Gandy 367,953 47.58 773,301 100.00 General election Campaign In the campaign, the private detective Rex Armistead, formerly with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, helped to spread rumors that Allain had sexual intercourse with two African-American male transvestites.John Howard, Men Like That: A Southern Queer History, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 281–297"Elections '83; A Winning Round", Time magazineWarren Johansson, William A. Percy, Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence, Routledge, 1994, p. 156 Allain denied the charges. The transvestites went on the record with a lie detector but in 1984, after the election had been held, they claimed that they had never met Allain and had been paid for their testimony.Rock Hill Herald https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3S0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gb0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2384,1323234&dq=bill-allain&hl=en https://archive.today/20130124182225/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3S0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gb0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2384,1323234&dq=bill-allain&hl=en dead January 24, 2013 Transvestites withdraw allegations Bramlett lost the general election, 288,764 (38.9 percent) to Allain's 409,209 (55.1 percent). Charles Evers, the African American civil rights activist from Fayette, ran as an Independent and polled 30,593 (4.1 percent).http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=8571 Leon Bramlett ourcampaigns.com May 7, 2014 Gil Carmichael, who defeated Bramlett for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in a very close race in 1979, ran in 1983 for lieutenant governor as a low-budget independent candidate in an apparent attempt to gain a larger share of the African-American vote against the incumbent Democrat Brad Dye, who prevailed with 464,080 votes (64.3 percent) to Carmichael's 257,623 (35.7 percent). Bramlett, spending over $1.1 million total (and outspending Allain as well)The Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS), January 11, 1984. outpolled Carmichael by just over 31,000 votes when both were on the ballot as de facto ticket mates. Results Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1983http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=17287 MS Governor 1983 Our Campaigns December 3, 2016 Democratic Party (United States) William Allain 409,209 55.10 Republican Party (United States) Leon Bramlett 288,764 38.88 Independent (politician) Charles Evers 30,493 4.12 Independent (politician) Billie H. Taylor 7,869 1.06 Independent (politician) Henry McMullen Williams 6,302 0.85 742,737 100.00 Democratic Party (United States) Analysis Historian David Sansing described the 1983 contest as "one of the most tumultuous campaigns in the history of Mississippi politics."Sansing 2016 225 Journalist Charles Overby wrote that the sex scandal accusations were "a lot stranger than fiction".Sansing 2016 226 The allegations and the 1983 campaign have been covered in several works, including William Franklin West's 1995 master's thesis, The Case of the Reluctant Story: The Allain Sex Scandal; a chapter in Jere Nash and Andy Taggart's Mississippi Politics; and several pages in John Howard's 199 book on gay history in Mississippi, Men Like That.Sansing 2016 226 Through the passage by Mississippi voters of a 1986 amendment to the state constitution, Allain became the first Governor in a century eligible to run for reelection in 1987, but up to the filing deadline for candidates that year declined to say whether or not he would, and the deadline passed without him filing to.Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS), June 6, 1987, page 1. References 30em Works cited Sansing David G. Mississippi Governors: Soldiers, Statesmen, Scholars, Scoundrels Nautilus Publishing Company first 2016 Oxford 978-1-936946-81-5 1983 gubernatorial Mississippi Category:November 1983 in the United States Category:1983 in Mississippi