1974 Alabama Senate election
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All 35 seats in the Alabama State Senate 18 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 District results Democratic: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% 90–100% Unopposed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Alabama |
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 Government |
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.
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
[edit]| Party | Candidates | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num. | Vote | % | Before | Won | +/– | ||||
| Democratic | 35 | 444,377 | 92.75% | 35 | 35 | 
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| NDPA | 5 | 14,506 | 3.03% | 0 | 0 |
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| Republican | 3 | 11,775 | 2.46% | 0 | 0 |
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| Independents | 2 | 5,233 | 1.09% | 0 | 0 |
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| Conservative | 2 | 3,188 | 0.67% | 0 | 0 |
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| Others | 20 | 0.00% | 0 | 0 |
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| Total | 47 | 479,099 | 100% | 35 |
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Incumbents
[edit]Re-elected
[edit]- Dick Owen of Baldwin County ran in the 32nd district and won.
- Obie Littleton of Chilton County ran in the 18th district and won.
- Crum Foshee of Covington County ran in the 25th district and won.
- Walter C. Givhan of Dallas County ran in the 29th district and won.
- Joe Fine of Franklin County ran in the 2nd district and won.
- Eddie Hubert Gilmore of Jefferson County ran in the 17th district and won.
- Bill King of Jefferson County ran in the 7th district and won.
- Pat Vacca of Jefferson County ran in the 12th district and won.
- L. W. Noonan of Mobile County ran in the 34th district and won.
- Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa County ran in the 16th district and won.
- Bobby Weaver of Talladega County ran in the 19th district and won.
- Robert Wilson of Walker County ran in the 5th district and won.
Defeated in Democratic primary
[edit]- 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
[edit]- James S. Clark of Barbour County did not seek re-election.
- Don Horne of Chambers County did not seek re-election.
- Pat Lindsey of Choctaw County did not seek re-election.
- Kenneth Hammond of DeKalb County did not seek re-election.
- Richard Malone of Etowah County did not seek re-election.
- James A. Branyon of Fayette County did not seek re-election.
- Larry Register of Houston County did not seek re-election.
- Richard Dominick of Jefferson County did not seek re-election.
- John Hawkins of Jefferson County did not seek re-election.
- Stewart O'Bannon of Lauderdale County did not seek re-election.
- Gene McLain of Madison County did not seek re-election.
- Aubrey J. Carr of Marshall County did not seek re-election.
- Bob Edington of Mobile County did not seek re-election.
- President pro tempore Pierre Pelham of Mobile County did not seek re-election.
- J. J. Pierce of Montgomery County did not seek re-election.
- Bob Harris of Morgan County did not seek re-election.
- Roland Cooper of Wilcox County did not seek re-election.
General election results
[edit]| District | Democratic | National Democratic | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 5th | Robert Wilson (inc.) | 12,548 | 80.59% | — | — | — | Larry Akins (Rep.) | 3,023 | 19.41% | 15,571 | +9,525 | +61.17% |
| 7th | Bill King | 14,771 | 92.59% | Ernestine Langford | 1,182 | 7.41% | — | — | — | 15,953 | +13,589 | +85.18% |
| 13th | J. Richmond Pearson | 11,937 | 84.29% | — | — | — | Herbert Stone (Con.) | 2,224 | 15.71% | 14,161 | +9,713 | +68.59% |
| 20th | Donald Stewart | 13,183 | 74.95% | — | — | — | Margaret E. Stout (Rep.) | 4,405 | 25.05% | 17,588 | +8,778 | +49.91% |
| 23rd | T. Dudley Perry | 12,529 | 66.04% | Robert Harris | 2,097 | 11.05% | Rudolph Shelley (Rep.) | 4,347 | 22.91% | 18,973 | +8,182 | +43.12% |
| 26th | Jerry Powell | 9,075 | 55.84% | Oscar Cook | 1,945 | 11.97% | 2 others[a] | 5,233 | 32.19% | 16,253 | +5,177 | +31.85% |
| 29th | Walter C. Givhan (inc.) | 15,070 | 69.90% | Amelia Boynton Robinson | 6,483 | 30.07% | Haywood F. Stokes (write-in) | 7 | 0.03% | 21,560 | +8,587 | +39.83% |
| 30th | Bert Bank | 16,481 | 85.48% | Martin Goodson | 2,799 | 14.52% | — | — | — | 19,280 | +13,682 | +70.96% |
| 35th | Bill Roberts | 13,183 | 93.19% | — | — | — | Charles McDade (Con.) | 964 | 6.81% | 14,147 | +12,219 | +86.37% |
| Source: 1975 Alabama Official and Statistical Register (294–296)[3] | ||||||||||||
Elected unopposed
[edit]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
[edit]Runoff results by district
[edit]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]
| District | Winner | Loser | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 3rd | Bingham Edwards* | 13,547 | 60.62% | Joe Calvin | 8,801 | 39.38% | 22,348 | +4,746 | +21.24% |
| 6th | Albert McDonald | 7,157 | 53.41% | Granville Turner | 6,244 | 46.59% | 13,401 | +913 | +6.81% |
| 13th | J. Richmond Pearson | 8,456 | 61.27% | Thomas L. Alexander | 5,346 | 38.73% | 13,802 | +3,110 | +22.53% |
| 14th | Robert Ellis | 7,893 | 55.90% | Johnny Nichols | 6,227 | 44.10% | 14,120 | +1,666 | +11.80% |
| 17th | Eddie Hubert Gilmore | 9,902 | 51.26% | Doug Cook | 9,417 | 48.74% | 19,319 | +485 | +2.51% |
| 23rd | Dudley Perry | 14,544 | 56.41% | L. L. Dozier | 11,238 | 43.59% | 25,782 | +3,306 | +12.82% |
| 31st | Maston Mims* | 11,589 | 51.65% | W. E. Garrett | 10,850 | 48.35% | 22,439 | +739 | +3.29% |
| 32nd | Dick Owen | 11,356 | 51.85% | Robert Gulledge | 10,547 | 48.15% | 21,903 | +809 | +3.69% |
| 33rd | Mike Perloff | 6,331 | 51.60% | James E. Buskey | 5,938 | 48.40% | 12,269 | +393 | +3.20% |
| 35th | Bill Roberts | 9,792 | 58.65% | Casey Downing | 6,903 | 41.35% | 16,695 | +2,889 | +17.30% |
| Source: The Birmingham News[6] | |||||||||
First round results by district
[edit]Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.
| District | First place | Runners-up | Others | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | Maj. | Mrg. | |
| 3rd | Joe Calvin | 6,907 | 32.16% | Bingham Edwards | 6,701 | 31.21% | 2 others[b] | 7,866 | 36.63% | 21,474 | +206 | +0.96% |
| 5th | Robert Wilson* | 11,144 | 59.77% | Doug Adams | 7,500 | 40.23% | — | — | — | 18,644 | +3,644 | +19.55% |
| 6th | Albert McDonald | 6,137 | 37.63% | Granville Turner | 5,522 | 33.86% | Charles Sullins | 4,648 | 28.50% | 16,307 | +615 | +3.77% |
| 7th | Bill King* | 9,823 | 56.33% | Charles Grainger | 7,614 | 43.67% | — | — | — | 17,437 | +2,209 | +12.67% |
| 8th | John Baker* | 11,348 | 64.53% | W. R. Inman | 6,237 | 35.47% | — | — | — | 17,585 | +5,111 | +29.06% |
| 9th | Sid McDonald | 10,180 | 47.62% | Woodie Shelton | 3,174 | 14.85% | 3 others[c] | 8,024 | 37.53% | 21,378 | +7,006 | +32.77% |
| 10th | Gerald Waldrop* | 12,830 | 50.21% | Les Gilliland | 8,105 | 31.72% | Robert Lewis | 4,620 | 18.08% | 25,555 | +4,725 | +18.49% |
| 11th | George McMillan* | 9,992 | 50.58% | George Lewis Bailes | 9,764 | 49.42% | — | — | — | 19,756 | +228 | +1.15% |
| 12th | Pat Vacca* | 10,824 | 62.12% | James K. Watley | 6,601 | 37.88% | — | — | — | 17,425 | +4,223 | +24.24% |
| 13th | J. Richmond Pearson | 5,458 | 34.04% | Thomas L. Alexander | 3,756 | 23.43% | 4 others[d] | 6,819 | 42.53% | 16,033 | +1,702 | +10.62% |
| 14th | Robert Ellis | 7,967 | 44.39% | Johnny Nichols | 5,209 | 29.02% | E. C. Reese | 4,771 | 26.58% | 17,947 | +2,758 | +15.37% |
| 17th | Eddie Hubert Gilmore | 9,127 | 42.48% | Doug Cook | 6,840 | 31.84% | Tom Stubbs | 5,516 | 25.68% | 21,483 | +2,287 | +10.65% |
| 18th | Obie Littleton* | 11,640 | 54.60% | Lister Hill Proctor | 9,679 | 45.40% | — | — | — | 21,319 | +1,961 | +9.20% |
| 19th | Bobby Weaver | 8,285 | 49.21% | Frank Finch | 4,492 | 26.68% | Allen Hudson | 4,060 | 24.11% | 16,837 | +3,793 | +22.53% |
| 20th | Donald Stewart* | 15,076 | 67.28% | Fred Ray Lybrand | 7,333 | 32.72% | — | — | — | 22,409 | +7,743 | +34.55% |
| 21st | T. D. Little* | 12,340 | 55.36% | Robert Wilder | 9,952 | 44.64% | — | — | — | 22,292 | +2,388 | +10.71% |
| 22nd | C. C. Torbert Jr.* | 10,947 | 64.82% | Charles Adams | 5,942 | 35.18% | — | — | — | 16,889 | +5,005 | +29.63% |
| 23rd | Dudley Perry | 10,507 | 44.87% | L. L. Dozier | 9,880 | 42.19% | K. H. Walker | 3,029 | 12.94% | 23,416 | +627 | +2.68% |
| 24th | Sam Adams* | 12,496 | 78.71% | Mack Rudd | 3,380 | 21.29% | — | — | — | 15,876 | +9,116 | +57.42% |
| 25th | Crum Foshee | 13,374 | 53.45% | Harold Wise | 11,649 | 46.55% | — | — | — | 25,023 | +1,725 | +6.89% |
| 26th | Jerry Powell* | 9,768 | 65.47% | Oscar David Cook | 5,152 | 34.53% | — | — | — | 14,920 | +4,616 | +30.94% |
| 27th | Fred Jones* | 10,555 | 51.64% | Tom Jones | 9,885 | 48.36% | — | — | — | 20,440 | +670 | +3.28% |
| 28th | Wendell Mitchell* | 16,301 | 73.67% | Robert Austin | 5,825 | 26.33% | — | — | — | 22,126 | +10,476 | +47.35% |
| 29th | Walter C. Givhan* | 16,988 | 57.83% | J. L. Chestnut | 12,390 | 42.17% | — | — | — | 29,378 | +4,598 | +15.65% |
| 30th | Bert Bank* | 15,511 | 67.01% | William Lang | 7,638 | 32.99% | — | — | — | 23,149 | +7,873 | +34.01% |
| 31st | W. E. Garrett | 8,640 | 36.65% | Maston Mims | 7,460 | 31.65% | 2 others[e] | 7,473 | 31.70% | 23,573 | +1,180 | +5.01% |
| 32nd | Dick Owen | 9,900 | 45.07% | Robert Gulledge | 7,703 | 35.07% | Percy Beech | 4,363 | 19.86% | 21,966 | +2,197 | +10.00% |
| 33rd | Mike Perloff | 4,255 | 32.98% | James E. Buskey | 3,560 | 27.59% | 2 others[f] | 5,088 | 39.43% | 12,903 | +695 | +5.39% |
| 35th | Bill Roberts | 6,690 | 45.98% | Casey Downing | 5,884 | 40.44% | Nelson Burnett | 1,975 | 13.57% | 14,549 | +806 | +5.54% |
| Source: The Birmingham News[7] | ||||||||||||
See also
[edit]- 1974 United States Senate election in Alabama
- 1974 Alabama gubernatorial election
- List of Alabama state legislatures
Notes
[edit]- ^ William Hobbie (Ind.): 3,898, 23.98%; J.D. Hogan (Ind.): 1,335, 8.21%
- ^
- Don Tomlinson: 4,918, 22.90%
- Dewayne Cameron: 2,948, 13.73%
- ^
- B. B. Sanford: 3,059, 14.31%
- B. E. McPherson: 2,589, 12.11%
- Roger Southerland: 2,376 11.11%
- ^
- Dick Shamburger: 2,213, 13.80%
- Paul Thomason: 2,028, 12.65%
- Al Thomas: 1,698, 10.59%
- Hiram Crawford: 880, 5.49%
- ^
- Ernest Jackson: 5,623, 23.85%
- Henry Welch: 1,850, 7.85%
- ^
- Henry Rembert: 2,629, 20.38%
- Arnold L. Black: 2,459, 19.06%
References
[edit]- ^ "Negro Attorney Running in Front In Race For State Legislative Seat". The Mobile Register. Associated Press. 4 November 1970. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ Sellers, Bill (6 February 1974). "Reapportionment Causes Headaches For Many In State". The Mobile Register. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ Howard, Milo B. (1975). Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1975. Montgomery, Alabama: Alabama Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
- ^ "2 incumbent state senators re-elected". Birmingham Post-Herald. 7 November 1974. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ "Finch pulls out of senate runoff". The Anniston Star. May 17, 1974. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ Fox, Al (June 11, 1974). "Here's what official vote count to show". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
- ^ Fox, Al (May 14, 1974). "Only 13 state senators have chance of returning next year". The Birmingham News. Retrieved 31 May 2025.
