Lewis Leslie McAllister, Jr., was born on September 25, 1932, in Jackson, Mississippi.[2] He was a certified public accountant working in Meridian, Mississippi.[1][3] His father was a former Democratic Meridian councilman.[3] He is a graduate of Meridian High School and an alumnus of Georgia Tech and the University of Alabama.[4]
In 1960, McAllister was appointed the Lauderdale County campaign manger for the Republican party[5] and engaged in local programming to build GOP support in the area;[6] he later became vice chairman of the county organization.[4] He was also chairman of the Mississippi Young Republicans, starting in 1961.[7] As chairman, he encouraged conservative Democrats to join the organization.[8]
In January 1963, he announced his candidacy as a Republican in a special election to represent Lauderdale County in the Mississippi House of Representatives to replace resigning representative Natie Caraway.[4] He received a plurality of the votes in the general[9] and proceeded to a runoff election, where he was elected with 57% of the vote.[1][2] McAllister, a self-described Goldwater Republican, was the first member of the Republican Party to serve in the Mississippi Legislature since George L. Sheldon, who served from 1920 to 1924.[1] Notably, he was the second Republican to be elected to public office in the early 1960s, as Joe Sams, Jr., won election as county prosecutor in Lowndes County.[10] McCallister attributed his victory to not because of his party identification but to the "hatred of the Kennedys."[11] He was re-elected to serve the 1964–1968 term.[2][3]
He announced his candidacy for Mississippi 4th Congressional District in February 1966 when Congressman Prentiss Walker, a fellow Republican, announced a run for the United States Senate.[12] He ultimately lost to Democrat Sonny Montgomery, a major general and businessman, with about 38% of the vote.[13]
