1970 Alabama gubernatorial election
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Script error: No such module "Sidebar". The 1970 Alabama gubernatorial election was marked by a competitive Democratic primary battle between incumbent moderate Governor Albert Brewer and segregationist former governor and 1968 independent presidential candidate George Wallace. The Alabama Constitution was amended in 1968, allowing a governor to serve two consecutive terms.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Albert Brewer, incumbent Governor
- Coleman Brown
- Asa Carter, Ku Klux Klan leader and former Wallace speechwriter
- Jim Folsom, former Governor
- Ralph "Shorty" Price, perennial candidate
- George Wallace, former Governor
- Charles Woods, businessman
Campaign
Despite Wallace's popularity, Brewer was seen as an early front-runner. Brewer, who had been elected lieutenant governor in 1966, had become governor after the death of Governor Lurleen Wallace, George's wife. A moderate, he became the first gubernatorial candidate since Reconstruction to openly court black voters.[1] Brewer, hoping to build a broad alliance between blacks and white working class voters, unveiled a progressive platform and accused Wallace of spending too much time outside the state, saying "Alabama needs a full-time governor.".[2]
Republican President Richard Nixon endorsed Brewer in order to break Wallace's political career and secure Deep South votes for himself in the next presidential election.[3][4] It was later discovered that Nixon had directed his reelection campaign to donate $400,000 to Brewer in secret cash payments.[5]
Wallace, whose presidential ambitions would have been destroyed with a defeat, ran a very aggressive and dirty campaign using racist rhetoric while proposing few original ideas of his own.[6] The Wallace campaign aired TV ads with slogans such as "Do you want the black block electing your governor?" and circulated an ad showing a white girl surrounded by seven black boys, with the slogan "Wake Up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama."[7] Wallace called Brewer a sissy[8] and promised not to run for president a third time.[9]
Primary results
Brewer: 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70%
Wallace: 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Albert Brewer (incumbent) | Script error: No such module "string". | 41.98 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | George Wallace | Script error: No such module "string". | 40.84 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Charles Woods | Script error: No such module "string". | 14.71 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Asa Carter | Script error: No such module "string". | 1.51 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Jim Folsom | Script error: No such module "string". | 0.40 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Coleman Brown | Script error: No such module "string". | 0.28 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Shorty Price | Script error: No such module "string". | 0.28 | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100 | ||
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Runoff
Despite Brewer's victory in the first round, he failed to win a majority and was forced into a runoff with Wallace.
Wallace: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
Brewer: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | George Wallace | Script error: No such module "string". | 51.56 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Albert Brewer (incumbent) | Script error: No such module "string". | 48.44 | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100 | ||
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General election
At the time, the Democratic primary in Alabama was regarded as more important than the general election, as Alabama was still essentially a one-party state in non-presidential elections. The Republican Party did not field a candidate, and Wallace easily won the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | George Wallace | Script error: No such module "string". | 74.51 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | John L. Cashin Jr. | Script error: No such module "string". | 14.68 | |
| Independent | A. C. Shelton | Script error: No such module "string". | 8.85 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | Jerome B. Couch | Script error: No such module "string". | 1.14 | |
| Independent | Menter G. Walker | Script error: No such module "string". | 0.41 | |
| Script error: No such module "Political party". | John Watts | Script error: No such module "string". | 0.41 | |
| Total votes | Script error: No such module "string". | 100 | ||
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See also
References
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- ↑ Rogers, William Warren, et al. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State. Tuscaloosa; The University of Alabama Press, 1994, 576.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Flowers, Steve, "Steve Flowers Inside the Statehouse", October 12, 2005
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Kornacki, Steve (2011-05-09) Rick Santorum and the problem with the "loser" label Template:Webarchive, Salon.com
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Warren, 576
- ↑ [1] Rawls, Phillip, "Book Rates George Wallace's '70 campaign as the nastiest", Decatur Daily, March 5, 2006
- ↑ Rawls, March 5, 2005
- ↑ Flowers, 2005
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