1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election

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1955 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

← 1951 November 8, 1955 1959 →
 
Nominee James P. Coleman Paul B. Johnson Jr.
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 233,237 185,924
Percentage 55.64% 44.36%

County results
Coleman:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

Johnson:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election

Hugh L. White
Democratic

Elected Governor

James P. Coleman
Democratic

The 1955 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1955, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Hugh L. White was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election, so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election. This election was the first Mississippi gubernatorial election since 1931 that the winner of the gubernatorial election was of a different party than the incumbent president.

Democratic primary

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No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured five contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Attorney General James P. Coleman, who defeated lawyer Paul B. Johnson Jr., son of former Governor Paul B. Johnson Sr.

Results

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Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1955[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Paul B. Johnson Jr. 122,423 28.06
Democratic James P. Coleman 104,140 23.87
Democratic Fielding L. Wright 94,410 21.64
Democratic Ross Barnett 92,785 21.27
Democratic Mary D. Cain 22,469 5.15
Total votes 436,227 100.00

Runoff

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Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1955[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James P. Coleman 233,237 55.64
Democratic Paul B. Johnson Jr. 185,924 44.36
Total votes 419,161 100.00

General election

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In the general election, Coleman ran unopposed.

Results

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Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1955[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic James P. Coleman 40,707 100.00
Total votes 40,707 100.00
Democratic hold

References

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  1. ^ "MS Governor D Primary 1955". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  2. ^ "MS Governor D Primary Runoff 1955". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "MS Governor 1955". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 7, 2016.