1919 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1919 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

August 26, 1919

Nominee Lee M. Russell Oscar G. Johnston Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 77,427 69,565 Percentage 52.67% 47.33%

Governor before election Theodore G. Bilbo Democratic Elected Governor Lee M. Russell Democratic

The 1919 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1919, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Theodore G. Bilbo 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.

Democratic primary

No candidate received a majority in the Democratic primary, which featured 4 contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Lieutenant Governor Lee M. Russell, who defeated Oscar G. Johnston.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 5 August 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee M. Russell	48,348	32.58
	Democratic	Oscar G. Johnston	39,206	26.42
	Democratic	Andrew H. Longino	30,831	20.77
	Democratic	Ross A. Collins	30,026	20.23
Total votes			148,411	100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 26 August 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee M. Russell	77,427	52.67
	Democratic	Oscar G. Johnston	69,565	47.33
Total votes			146,992	100.00

General election

In the general election, Russell easily defeated Socialist candidate J. T. Lester, who was also the party's nominee in 1915.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee M. Russell	39,241	96.96
	Socialist	J. T. Lester	1,231	3.04
Total votes			40,472	100.00
	Democratic hold