1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election

The 1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1987 to elect the governor of Mississippi.

1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election

← 1983 November 3, 1987 1991 →

Nominee Ray Mabus Jack Reed Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 385,689 336,006 Percentage 53.44% 46.56%

County results Mabus:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Reed:      50-60%      60-70%

Governor before election William Allain Democratic Elected Governor Ray Mabus Democratic

This is the most recent Mississippi gubernatorial election in which the Democratic candidate received a majority of votes. In January 2000, Ronnie Musgrove was elected by the Mississippi House of Representatives after neither he nor Republican Mike Parker received a majority in the 1999 general election.

Democratic primary

No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured 7 contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by State Auditor Ray Mabus, who defeated cotton farmer and businessman Mike Sturdivant.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1987^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ray Mabus	304,559	37.69
	Democratic	Mike Sturdivant	131,180	16.24
	Democratic	Bill Waller	105,056	13.00
	Democratic	John Arthur Eaves	98,517	12.19
	Democratic	Maurice Dantin	83,603	10.35
	Democratic	Ed Pittman	73,667	9.12
	Democratic	Gilbert Fountain	5,990	0.74
Total votes			802,572	100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1987^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ray Mabus	428,883	64.31
	Democratic	Mike Sturdivant	238,039	35.69
Total votes			666,922	100.00

Republican primary

Businessman and State Board of Education member Jack Reed won the Republican primary, defeating Doug Lemon.

Results

Mississippi Republican gubernatorial primary, 1987^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jack Reed	14,798	78.48
	Republican	Doug Lemon	4,057	21.52
Total votes			18,855	100.00

General election

Campaign

National Republicans considered Mississippi's 1987 gubernatorial contest a major target for them, and they devoted significant financial resources to Jack Reed's campaign.^[4]

At 39 years of age, Ray Mabus defeated Tupelo businessman Reed in the 1987 gubernatorial election by 53% to 47%, becoming the youngest governor in the United States. He won "on a wave of black votes" (black voters made up about 30 percent of the state's registered voters)^[5] and lost the white vote "by about 3 to 2" despite support from what a coalition one Democratic state chairman described as "poor whites" and yuppies.^[6] Mabus, who ran on the slogan "Mississippi Will Never Be Last Again",^[5] was billed as "the face of the New South", much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. Mabus was featured in a 1988 New York Times Magazine cover story titled "The Yuppies of Mississippi; How They Took Over the Statehouse".^[7]

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1987^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ray Mabus	385,689	53.44%
	Republican	Jack Reed	336,006	46.56%
Total votes			721,695	100.00
	Democratic hold

References

1. "MS Governor D Primary 1987". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
2. "MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1987". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
3. "MS Governor R Primary 1987". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
4. "National Republican Party donates big to Reed". The Clarion-Ledger. August 29, 1987. p. 1.
5. Applebome, Peter (September 16, 1991). "Mississippi Governor's Record at Issue". New York Times.
6. E.J. Dionne, Jr. (November 5, 1987). "Voting Produces Strong Evidence of Importance of Race in Politics". New York Times.
7. Boyer, Peter J. (February 28, 1988). "The Yuppies of Mississippi: How They Took Over the Statehouse". New York Times Magazine.
8. "MS Governor 1987". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 2, 2016.