.svg) | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
 County results Fordice: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Mabus: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The1991 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1991 to elect theGovernor of Mississippi. Incumbent DemocratRay Mabus unsuccessfully ran for reelection to a second term. This election marked the first time a Republican was elected Governor of Mississippi sinceReconstruction, whenAdelbert Ames won the office in 1873.
This is the last gubernatorial election where the Democratic candidate carried any of three counties (Hancock,Harrison andJackson) along theMississippi Gulf Coast.
Incumbent DemocratRay Mabus won the Democratic primary, defeating former U.S. RepresentativeWayne Dowdy and George "Wagon Wheel" Blair. According toThe New York Times, Mabus had to fend off charges that he was "arrogant and out of touch with Mississippi politically", and was perceived as a "Porsche politician in aChevy pickup state".[1]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ray Mabus (incumbent) | 368,679 | 50.75 | |
| Democratic | Wayne Dowdy | 299,172 | 41.18 | |
| Democratic | George "Wagon Wheel" Blair | 58,614 | 8.07 | |
| Total votes | 726,465 | 100.00 | ||
No candidate received a majority in the Republican primary, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by businessmanKirk Fordice, who defeated State AuditorPete Johnson.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kirk Fordice | 28,411 | 44.64 | |
| Republican | Pete Johnson | 27,651 | 43.44 | |
| Republican | Bobby Clanton | 7,589 | 11.92 | |
| Total votes | 63,651 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kirk Fordice | 31,753 | 60.63 | |
| Republican | Pete Johnson | 20,622 | 39.37 | |
| Total votes | 52,375 | 100.00 | ||
Fordice won 65 legislative districts against the 54 won by Mabus. This was above the 62 districts required to win.[5] Fordice spent $901,823 during the campaign while Mabus spent $3.59 million. Fordice was the first successful gubernatorial candidate since 1975 to spend less than $1 million during their campaign.[6]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kirk Fordice | 361,500 | 50.83% | |
| Democratic | Ray Mabus (incumbent) | 338,459 | 47.59% | |
| Independent | Shawn O'Hara | 11,253 | 1.58% | |
| Total votes | 711,212 | 100.00 | ||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | ||||
  | ThisMississippi elections-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byadding missing information. |
.jpg)
_(cropped).png)
