1915 Mississippi gubernatorial election

The 1915 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1915, to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Earl L. Brewer was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate won in a landslide 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 1895 that the winner of the gubernatorial election was of the same party as the incumbent president.

1915 Mississippi gubernatorial election

← 1911 November 2, 1915 1919 →

Nominee Theodore G. Bilbo J. T. Lester Party Democratic Socialist Popular vote 50,541 4,046 Percentage 92.59% 7.41%

County results Bilbo:      60-70%      80-90%      >90%

Governor before election Earl L. Brewer Democratic Elected Governor Theodore G. Bilbo Democratic

Democratic primary

In the Democratic primary, Lieutenant Governor Theodore G. Bilbo received just over 50% of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff. He defeated 4 other candidates to win the nomination.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 3 August 1915^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Theodore G. Bilbo	74,573	50.36
	Democratic	M. W. Riley	47,717	32.23
	Democratic	John R. Tally	11,451	7.73
	Democratic	Mr. Quinn	7,627	5.15
	Democratic	Peter Simpson Stovall	6,706	4.53
Total votes			148,074	100.00

General election

In the general election, Bilbo easily defeated Socialist candidate J. T. Lester.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1915^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Theodore G. Bilbo	50,541	92.59
	Socialist	J. T. Lester	4,046	7.41
Total votes			54,587	100.00
	Democratic hold