1991 Mississippi gubernatorial election

The 1991 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1991 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Ray Mabus unsuccessfully ran for reelection to a second term. This election marked the first time a Republican was elected Governor of Mississippi since Reconstruction, when Adelbert Ames won the office in 1873.

1991 Mississippi gubernatorial election

← 1987 November 5, 1991 1995 →

Nominee Kirk Fordice Ray Mabus Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 361,500 338,459 Percentage 50.83% 47.59%

County results Fordice:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Mabus:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election Ray Mabus Democratic Elected Governor Kirk Fordice Republican

This is the last gubernatorial election where the Democratic candidate carried any of three counties (Hancock, Harrison and Jackson) along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Democratic primary

Incumbent Democrat Ray Mabus won the Democratic primary, defeating former U.S. Representative Wayne Dowdy and George "Wagon Wheel" Blair. According to The 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 a Chevy pickup state".^[1]

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1991^[2]

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

Republican primary

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 businessman Kirk Fordice, who defeated State Auditor Pete Johnson.

Results

Mississippi Republican gubernatorial primary, 1991^[3]

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

Runoff

Mississippi Republican gubernatorial primary runoff, 1991^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kirk Fordice	31,753	60.63
	Republican	Pete Johnson	20,622	39.37
Total votes			52,375	100.00

General election

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]

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1991^[7][8]

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
	Republican gain from Democratic