Alabama gubernatorial election, 1958
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County results
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John Malcolm Patterson
Democratic
The Alabama gubernatorial election of 1958 was held on November 3, 1958.
At this time Alabama was a de facto one-party state. Because of this, every Democratic Party nominee was considered safe for election. The real contest for governor took place during the primary.
Popular incumbent Governor Jim Folsom, a racial moderate, was barred from running for reelection, as Governors could not succeed themselves at the time. Therefore, the Democratic primary was an open contest.
The two front-runners, Patterson and Wallace, held deeply different positions on racial segregation issues. While Patterson, known primarily as crime-fighting attorney general, ran on a very segregationist platform and accepted an official endorsement from Ku Klux Klan, Wallace, a close ally of Folsom, refused to cooperate with the KKK and was endorsed by the NAACP.
Primaries were held on June 3, 1958.
Because none of candidates won a majority, a runoff was held on June 24, 1958, in order to determine which candidate received the nomination.
William Longshore, a former Republican Party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives from the 9th district (lost, winning 34.12% votes) won the gubernatorial nomination unopposed.
After his defeat, George Wallace, who was a racial moderate, modified his public position in order to gain the white support necessary to win the next election.
http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=80047
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