1974 Alabama Senate election

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The 1974 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 5, 1974, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama Senate. The result was an electoral shutout, as all 35 candidates elected were members of the Democratic Party. This election was notable for seeing the first two Black Americans elected to the chamber since the Reconstruction era, those being U. W. Clemon and J. Richmond Pearson.

Quick facts All 35 seats in the Alabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...
1974 Alabama Senate election
← 1970
November 5, 1974
1978 →
All 35 seats in the Alabama State Senate
18 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Pierre Pelham
(retired)		 —
Party Democratic National Democratic
Leader since January 12, 1971 —
Leader's seat 24 p.2–Mobile[1]
(seat abolished)		 —
Last election 35 seats, 76.4% 0 seats, 16.7%
Seats won 35 0
Popular vote 444,377 14,506
Percentage 92.75% 3.03%
District results
Democratic:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      90–100%      Unopposed
President pro tempore before election

Pierre Pelham
Democratic

 Elected President pro tempore

Joe Fine
Democratic

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Primaries were held on May 7 with runoffs on June 4. This was the first state senate election in Alabama since a 1973 federal court order mandated a new legislative map with single-member districts. Previously, the state used a mixed system of single-member and multi-member districts to allocate seats in the legislature, all based on pre-existing county lines.[2]

Summary

More information Party, Candidates ...
Party Candidates Seats
Num. Vote % Before Won +/–
Democratic 35444,37792.75%3535Steady
NDPA 514,5063.03%00Steady
Republican 311,7752.46%00Steady
Independents 25,2331.09%00Steady
Conservative 23,1880.67%00Steady
Others 200.00%00Steady
Total 47479,099100% 35 Steady
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Incumbents

Re-elected

Defeated in Democratic primary

  • Fred Ray Lybrand of Calhoun County ran in the 20th district and lost in the first round.
  • George Lewis Bailes of Jefferson County ran in the 11th district and lost in the first round.
  • Doug Cook of Jefferson County ran in the 17th district and lost in the runoff.
  • Tom Jones of Montgomery County ran in the 27th district and lost in the first round.
  • L. L. Dozier of Pike County ran in the 23rd district and lost in the runoff.
  • Robert Wilder of Tallapoosa County ran in the 21st district and lost in the first round.

Did not seek re-election

General election results

More information District, Democratic ...
District Democratic National Democratic Others Total
Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes Maj. Mrg.
5th Robert Wilson (inc.)12,54880.59% ——— Larry Akins (Rep.)3,02319.41% 15,571+9,525+61.17%
7th Bill King14,77192.59% Ernestine Langford1,1827.41% ——— 15,953+13,589+85.18%
13th J. Richmond Pearson11,93784.29% ——— Herbert Stone (Con.)2,22415.71% 14,161+9,713+68.59%
20th Donald Stewart13,18374.95% ——— Margaret E. Stout (Rep.)4,40525.05% 17,588+8,778+49.91%
23rd T. Dudley Perry12,52966.04% Robert Harris2,09711.05% Rudolph Shelley (Rep.)4,34722.91% 18,973+8,182+43.12%
26th Jerry Powell9,07555.84% Oscar Cook1,94511.97% 2 others[a]5,23332.19% 16,253+5,177+31.85%
29th Walter C. Givhan (inc.)15,07069.90% Amelia Boynton Robinson6,48330.07% Haywood F. Stokes (write-in)70.03% 21,560+8,587+39.83%
30th Bert Bank16,48185.48% Martin Goodson2,79914.52% ——— 19,280+13,682+70.96%
35th Bill Roberts13,18393.19% ——— Charles McDade (Con.)9646.81% 14,147+12,219+86.37%
Source: 1975 Alabama Official and Statistical Register (294–296)[3]
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Elected unopposed

The following Democratic nominees did not face opposition in the general election:[4]

  • District 1: Ronnie Flippo received 7,578 votes.
  • District 2: Joe Fine (inc.) received 12,729 votes.
  • District 3: Bingham Edwards received 9,865 votes.
  • District 4: Finis St. John received 16,700 votes.
  • District 6: Albert McDonald received 11,275 votes.
  • District 8: John Baker (inc.) received 13,104 votes.
  • District 9: Sid McDonald received 12,112 votes.
  • District 10: Gerald Waldrop received 13,071 votes.
  • District 11: George McMillan received 14,935 votes. 1 other vote was recorded.
  • District 12: Paul Vacca (inc.) received 15,350 votes.
  • District 14: Bob Ellis received 14,249 votes.
  • District 15: U. W. Clemon received 9,022 votes. 9 other votes were recorded.
  • District 16: Richard Shelby (inc.) received 10,626 votes.
  • District 17: Eddie Hubert Gilmore (inc.) received 16,829 votes.
  • District 18: Obie Littleton (inc.) received 14,707 votes.
  • District 19: Robert Weaver (inc.) received 11,274 votes. 1 other vote was recorded.
  • District 21: Ted Little received 10,489 votes.
  • District 22: C. C. Torbert received 8,436 votes.
  • District 24: Sam Adams received 8,475 votes.
  • District 25: Crum Foshee (inc.) received 12,802 votes.
  • District 27: Fred Jones received 14,899 votes.
  • District 28: Wendell Mitchell received 14,471 votes.
  • District 31: Maston Mims received 13,238 votes.
  • District 32: Dick Owen (inc.) received 15,448 votes.
  • District 33: Mike Perloff received 7,125 votes.
  • District 34: L. W. Noonan (inc.) received 16,791 votes.

Democratic primary results

Runoff results by district

Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who was the runner-up in the first round. Senator Bobby Weaver initially faced a runoff in District 19 against Frank Finch, but Finch withdrew from the race, allowing Weaver to advance to the general election, where he went unopposed.[5]

More information District, Winner ...
District Winner Loser Total
Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes Maj. Mrg.
3rd Bingham Edwards*13,54760.62% Joe Calvin8,80139.38% 22,348+4,746+21.24%
6th Albert McDonald7,15753.41% Granville Turner6,24446.59% 13,401+913+6.81%
13th J. Richmond Pearson8,45661.27% Thomas L. Alexander5,34638.73% 13,802+3,110+22.53%
14th Robert Ellis7,89355.90% Johnny Nichols6,22744.10% 14,120+1,666+11.80%
17th Eddie Hubert Gilmore9,90251.26% Doug Cook9,41748.74% 19,319+485+2.51%
23rd Dudley Perry14,54456.41% L. L. Dozier11,23843.59% 25,782+3,306+12.82%
31st Maston Mims*11,58951.65% W. E. Garrett10,85048.35% 22,439+739+3.29%
32nd Dick Owen11,35651.85% Robert Gulledge10,54748.15% 21,903+809+3.69%
33rd Mike Perloff6,33151.60% James E. Buskey5,93848.40% 12,269+393+3.20%
35th Bill Roberts9,79258.65% Casey Downing6,90341.35% 16,695+2,889+17.30%
Source: The Birmingham News[6]
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First round results by district

Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.

More information District, First place ...
District First place Runners-up Others Total
Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes Maj. Mrg.
3rd Joe Calvin6,90732.16% Bingham Edwards6,70131.21% 2 others[b]7,86636.63% 21,474+206+0.96%
5th Robert Wilson*11,14459.77% Doug Adams7,50040.23% ——— 18,644+3,644+19.55%
6th Albert McDonald6,13737.63% Granville Turner5,52233.86% Charles Sullins4,64828.50% 16,307+615+3.77%
7th Bill King*9,82356.33% Charles Grainger7,61443.67% ——— 17,437+2,209+12.67%
8th John Baker*11,34864.53% W. R. Inman6,23735.47% ——— 17,585+5,111+29.06%
9th Sid McDonald10,18047.62% Woodie Shelton3,17414.85% 3 others[c]8,02437.53% 21,378+7,006+32.77%
10th Gerald Waldrop*12,83050.21% Les Gilliland8,10531.72% Robert Lewis4,62018.08% 25,555+4,725+18.49%
11th George McMillan*9,99250.58% George Lewis Bailes9,76449.42% ——— 19,756+228+1.15%
12th Pat Vacca*10,82462.12% James K. Watley6,60137.88% ——— 17,425+4,223+24.24%
13th J. Richmond Pearson5,45834.04% Thomas L. Alexander3,75623.43% 4 others[d]6,81942.53% 16,033+1,702+10.62%
14th Robert Ellis7,96744.39% Johnny Nichols5,20929.02% E. C. Reese4,77126.58% 17,947+2,758+15.37%
17th Eddie Hubert Gilmore9,12742.48% Doug Cook6,84031.84% Tom Stubbs5,51625.68% 21,483+2,287+10.65%
18th Obie Littleton*11,64054.60% Lister Hill Proctor9,67945.40% ——— 21,319+1,961+9.20%
19th Bobby Weaver8,28549.21% Frank Finch4,49226.68% Allen Hudson4,06024.11% 16,837+3,793+22.53%
20th Donald Stewart*15,07667.28% Fred Ray Lybrand7,33332.72% ——— 22,409+7,743+34.55%
21st T. D. Little*12,34055.36% Robert Wilder9,95244.64% ——— 22,292+2,388+10.71%
22nd C. C. Torbert Jr.*10,94764.82% Charles Adams5,94235.18% ——— 16,889+5,005+29.63%
23rd Dudley Perry10,50744.87% L. L. Dozier9,88042.19% K. H. Walker3,02912.94% 23,416+627+2.68%
24th Sam Adams*12,49678.71% Mack Rudd3,38021.29% ——— 15,876+9,116+57.42%
25th Crum Foshee13,37453.45% Harold Wise11,64946.55% ——— 25,023+1,725+6.89%
26th Jerry Powell*9,76865.47% Oscar David Cook5,15234.53% ——— 14,920+4,616+30.94%
27th Fred Jones*10,55551.64% Tom Jones9,88548.36% ——— 20,440+670+3.28%
28th Wendell Mitchell*16,30173.67% Robert Austin5,82526.33% ——— 22,126+10,476+47.35%
29th Walter C. Givhan*16,98857.83% J. L. Chestnut12,39042.17% ——— 29,378+4,598+15.65%
30th Bert Bank*15,51167.01% William Lang7,63832.99% ——— 23,149+7,873+34.01%
31st W. E. Garrett8,64036.65% Maston Mims7,46031.65% 2 others[e]7,47331.70% 23,573+1,180+5.01%
32nd Dick Owen9,90045.07% Robert Gulledge7,70335.07% Percy Beech4,36319.86% 21,966+2,197+10.00%
33rd Mike Perloff4,25532.98% James E. Buskey3,56027.59% 2 others[f]5,08839.43% 12,903+695+5.39%
35th Bill Roberts6,69045.98% Casey Downing5,88440.44% Nelson Burnett1,97513.57% 14,549+806+5.54%
Source: The Birmingham News[7]
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    William Hobbie (Ind.): 3,898, 23.98%; J.D. Hogan (Ind.): 1,335, 8.21%
  2. [b]
    • Don Tomlinson: 4,918, 22.90%
    • Dewayne Cameron: 2,948, 13.73%
  3. [c]
    • B. B. Sanford: 3,059, 14.31%
    • B. E. McPherson: 2,589, 12.11%
    • Roger Southerland: 2,376 11.11%
  4. [d]
    • Dick Shamburger: 2,213, 13.80%
    • Paul Thomason: 2,028, 12.65%
    • Al Thomas: 1,698, 10.59%
    • Hiram Crawford: 880, 5.49%
  5. [e]
    • Ernest Jackson: 5,623, 23.85%
    • Henry Welch: 1,850, 7.85%
  6. [f]
    • Henry Rembert: 2,629, 20.38%
    • Arnold L. Black: 2,459, 19.06%

References

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