1970 Alabama gubernatorial election

← 1966

November 3, 1970

1974 →


Nominee	George Wallace	John L. Cashin Jr.	A. C. Shelton
Party	Democratic	National Democratic (Ala.)	Independent
Popular vote	637,046	125,491	75,679
Percentage	74.5%	14.7%	8.9%

County results
Wallace: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Cashin 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

Governor before election

Albert Brewer
Democratic

Elected Governor

George Wallace
Democratic

Federal government

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The 1970 Alabama gubernatorial election was marked by a competitive Democratic primary battle between incumbent moderate Governor Albert Brewer and segregationist former governor and 1968 independent presidential candidate George Wallace. The Alabama Constitution was amended in 1968, allowing a governor to serve two consecutive terms.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Albert Brewer, incumbent Governor
Coleman Brown
Asa Carter, Ku Klux Klan leader and former Wallace speechwriter
Jim Folsom, former Governor
Ralph "Shorty" Price, perennial candidate
George Wallace, former Governor
Charles Woods, businessman

Campaign

Despite Wallace's popularity, Brewer was seen as an early front-runner. Brewer, who had been elected lieutenant governor in 1966, had become governor after the death of Governor Lurleen Wallace, George's wife. A moderate, he became the first gubernatorial candidate since Reconstruction to openly court black voters.^[1] Brewer, hoping to build a broad alliance between blacks and white working class voters, unveiled a progressive platform and accused Wallace of spending too much time outside the state, saying "Alabama needs a full-time governor.".^[2]

Republican President Richard Nixon endorsed Brewer in order to break Wallace's political career and secure Deep South votes for himself in the next presidential election.^[3]^[4] It was later discovered that Nixon had directed his reelection campaign to donate $400,000 to Brewer in secret cash payments.^[5]

Wallace, whose presidential ambitions would have been destroyed with a defeat, ran a very aggressive and dirty campaign using racist rhetoric while proposing few original ideas of his own.^[6] The Wallace campaign aired TV ads with slogans such as "Do you want the black block electing your governor?" and circulated an ad showing a white girl surrounded by seven black boys, with the slogan "Wake Up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over Alabama."^[7] Wallace called Brewer a sissy^[8] and promised not to run for president a third time.^[9]

Primary results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Albert Brewer (incumbent)	428,146	41.98
	Democratic	George Wallace	416,443	40.84
	Democratic	Charles Woods	149,987	14.71
	Democratic	Asa Carter	15,441	1.51
	Democratic	Jim Folsom	4,123	0.40
	Democratic	Coleman Brown	2,836	0.28
	Democratic	Shorty Price	2,804	0.28
Total votes			1,019,780	100

Runoff

Despite Brewer's victory in the first round, he failed to win a majority and was forced into a runoff with Wallace.

Democratic runoff results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George Wallace	559,832	51.56
	Democratic	Albert Brewer (incumbent)	525,951	48.44
Total votes			1,085,783	100

General election

At the time, the Democratic primary in Alabama was regarded as more important than the general election, as Alabama was still essentially a one-party state in non-presidential elections. The Republican Party did not field a candidate, and Wallace easily won the general election.

1970 Alabama gubernatorial election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	George Wallace	637,046	74.51
	National Democratic (Ala.)	John L. Cashin Jr.	125,491	14.68
	Independent	A. C. Shelton	75,679	8.85
	Prohibition	Jerome B. Couch	9,705	1.14
	Independent	Menter G. Walker	3,534	0.41
	Whig	John Watts	3,497	0.41
Total votes			854,952	100
	Democratic hold

References

http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=79753

^ Rogers, William Warren, et al. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State. Tuscaloosa; The University of Alabama Press, 1994, 576.
^ "Steve Flowers Inside the Statehouse". Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 25, 2006. Flowers, Steve, "Steve Flowers Inside the Statehouse", October 12, 2005
^ Rawls, Phillip (January 3, 2017). "Former Alabama Gov. Albert Brewer dies at 88". Associated Press. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
^ Kornacki, Steve (2011-05-09) Rick Santorum and the problem with the "loser" label Archived May 11, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Salon.com
^ Flowers, Steve (February 26, 2009). "Brewer vs. Wallace: Pivotal battle in Alabama political history".
^ Warren, 576
^ [1] Rawls, Phillip, "Book Rates George Wallace's '70 campaign as the nastiest", Decatur Daily, March 5, 2006
^ Rawls, March 5, 2005
^ Flowers, 2005

Alabama gubernatorial elections

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