1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election

1966 Arkansas gubernatorial election
	November 8, 1966
	November 8, 1966
	County results Rockefeller: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% ; Johnson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Governor before election; Orval E. Faubus; Democratic	Elected Governor ; Winthrop Rockefeller; Republican

The Arkansas gubernatorial election of November 8, 1966 was the first time since Reconstruction that a member of the Republican Party was elected governor.

The same year, during a midterm election, Republicans made some gains in the traditionally Democratic southern stronghold – including winning the governorship in Florida (also first time since Reconstruction), and narrowly losing the gubernatorial race in Georgia (when a GOP candidate won a plurality, but the Democratic-controlled legislature selected their own candidate).

Democratic primary

Popular and powerful six-term (since 1955) incumbent Orval E. Faubus decided against seeking re-election. "Justice Jim" Johnson, a political ally of George C. Wallace of Alabama, ran a segregationist campaign with support of the White Citizens Council. A decade earlier, Johnson had run in the Democratic primary against Faubus, another segregationist, whom he accused of working behind the scenes for racial integration.

Candidates

Thomas Dale Alford, former U.S. Representative and candidate for governor in 1962
Sam Boyce, attorney
Brooks Hays, former U.S. Representative and candidate for governor in 1930
Frank Holt, State Supreme Court Associate Justice
James D. "Justice Jim" Johnson, State Supreme Court Associate Justice and candidate for governor in 1956
Raymond Rebsamen, insurance executive and Ford dealer
Kenneth S. Sulcer, state senator

Results

July 26 Democratic primary results[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James D. Johnson	105,607	25.14
	Democratic	Frank Holt	92,711	22.07
	Democratic	Brooks Hays	64,814	15.43
	Democratic	Thomas Dale Alford	53,531	12.74
	Democratic	Sam Boyce	49,744	11.84
	Democratic	Raymond Rebsamen	35,607	8.48
	Democratic	Kenneth S. Sulcer	18,051	4.30
Total votes			420,065	100.00

August 9 Democratic runoff results[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James D. Johnson	210,543	51.86
	Democratic	Frank Holt	195,442	48.14
Total votes			405,985	100.00

Holt was supported by many younger, more liberal, Democrats, such as future governor and U.S. President Bill Clinton, who served as his campaign aide though he was not old enough to vote at the time.

Republican primary

A northeastern native, multimillionaire and scion of a prominent political/business family Winthrop Rockefeller was nominated with over 96% of the vote over Gus McMillan of Sheridan. Charges abounded that McMillan, a lifelong Democrat, was planted in the race by Faubus in order to force the Republicans to hold an expensive and needless primary. Rockefeller had been the GOP nominee in the 1964 election.

Campaign

Rockefeller was an unusual candidate – an eastern establishment member and moderate-to-liberal party wing member (such as his brother, Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, an unofficial leader of this wing for many years).

The Republican Party at this time practically played only a most minor role in Arkansas politics.

However, his popularity and the break within Democratic camp, where many were outraged with Johnson's segregationist stances, and good year for the Republicans nationally helped Rockefeller to win.

Results

Arkansas gubernatorial election, 1966[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Winthrop Rockefeller	306,324	54.36
	Democratic	James D. Johnson	257,203	45.64
Total votes			563,527	100.00

gollark: They can in fact be wrong in various ways.

gollark: They don't have perfect knowledge of the student though.

gollark: But if I also initially configured that thing, I obviously did cause it and caused any consequences.

gollark: It could reasonably be argued that even if I just look at a thing and perfectly understand it enough to predict all its future conditions, I didn't cause it.

gollark: And again, God *set up the entire thing*.

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Our Campaigns – AR Governor – D Primary Race – Jul 26, 1966

[2] Our Campaigns – AR Governor – D Runoff Race – Aug 09, 1966

[3] Our Campaigns - AR Governor Race - Nov 08, 1966

Elections in Arkansas
General	1844 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1900 1902 1903 1904 1906 1907 1908 1910 1912 1913 1914 1916 1917 1918 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1926 1927 1928 1930 1932 1933 1934 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1943 1944 1946 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1956 1958 1959 1960 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1972 1973 1974 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
AR Governor	1836 1840 1844 1848 1848 1852 1856 1860 1862 1864 1868 1872 1874 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1913 S 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018
U.S. President	1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
U.S. Senate	Class 2: 1833 1839–40 1848 S 1853 1859 1868 S 1870 1876 1883 1885 S 1889 1895 1901 1907 1913 S 1913 1918 1924 1930 1936 1937 S 1942 1948 1954 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2010 S 2014 2020 Class 3: 1837 1843 1845 S 1849 1855 1861 1867 1873 1879 1881 S 1885 1891 1897 1903 1909 1914 1920 1926 1932 1938 1944 1949 S 1950 1956 1962 1968 1974 1980 1986 1992 1998 2004 2010 2016
U.S. House	1837 1838 1840 1842 1844 1846 1848 1851 1853 1854 1856 1858 1860 1868 1870 1872 1874 1876 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902 1904 1906 1908 1910 1912 1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928 1930 1932 1934 1936 1938 1940 (4th S) 1942 1944 1946 1948 1950 1952 1954 1956 1958 1960 (6th S) 1962 1964 1966 (4th S) 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
'S,' denotes special election See also: Political party strength in Arkansas

(1964 ←) 1966 United States elections (→ 1968)
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Colorado Delaware Georgia Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Carolina (special) South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia Virginia (special) West Virginia Wyoming
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
State governors	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Wisconsin Wyoming
State legislatures	Iowa Senate