1943 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1943 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

November 2, 1943

Nominee Thomas L. Bailey Martin S. Conner Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 143,153 125,882 Percentage 53.21% 46.79%

County results Bailey:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Conner:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%

Governor before election Paul B. Johnson Sr. Democratic Elected Governor Thomas L. Bailey Democratic

The 1943 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1943 to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Paul B. Johnson Sr. was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term (he died less than two months after the election was held). As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed 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 former state representative Thomas L. Bailey, who defeated former Governor Martin S. Conner.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1943

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin S. Conner	110,917	36.90
	Democratic	Thomas L. Bailey	83,963	27.93
	Democratic	Dennis Murphree	68,510	22.79
	Democratic	Lester C. Franklin	37,240	12.39
Total votes			300,630	100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1943

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas L. Bailey	143,153	53.21
	Democratic	Martin S. Conner	125,882	46.79
Total votes			269,035	100.00

General election

In the general election, Bailey ran unopposed.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1943

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Thomas L. Bailey	50,488	100.00
Total votes			50,488	100.00
	Democratic hold