1935 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1935 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

November 5, 1935

Candidate Hugh L. White Paul B. Johnson Sr. Party Democratic Democratic Popular vote 182,771 170,705 Percentage 51.71% 48.29%

County results White:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80% Johnson:      50-60%      60-70%

Governor before election Martin S. Conner Democratic Elected Governor Hugh L. White Democratic

The 1935 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1935, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Martin S. Conner was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election; 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 five contenders, so a runoff was held between the top two candidates. The runoff election was won by Mayor of Columbia Hugh L. White, who defeated former U.S. Representative Paul B. Johnson, Sr.

Results

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1935

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paul B. Johnson Sr.	111,523	31.47
	Democratic	Hugh L. White	110,625	31.22
	Democratic	Dennis Murphree	92,997	26.24
	Democratic	Lester C. Franklin	34,700	9.79
	Democratic	E. A. Copeland	4,541	1.28
Total votes			354,386	100.00

Runoff

Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff, 1935

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hugh L. White	182,771	51.71
	Democratic	Paul B. Johnson Sr.	170,705	48.29
Total votes			353,476	100.00

General election

In the general election, White ran unopposed.

Results

Mississippi gubernatorial election, 1935

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Hugh L. White	45,881	100.00
Total votes			45,881	100.00
	Democratic hold