1958 Arkansas gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:1958 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Country:Arkansas
Flag Year:1924
Type:Presidential
Ongoing:no
Turnout:15.02%
Previous Election:1956 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Previous Year:1956
Next Election:1960 Arkansas gubernatorial election
Next Year:1960
Election Date:November 4, 1958
Image1:File:Orval Faubus.jpg
Nominee1:Orval Faubus
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:236,598
Percentage1:82.47%
Nominee2:George W. Johnson
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:50,288
Percentage2:17.53%
Governor
Before Election:Orval Faubus
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Orval Faubus
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 1958 Arkansas gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Orval Faubus won election to a third term, defeating Republican nominee George W. Johnson with 82.47% of the vote. Faubus surged in popularity after denying the Little Rock Nine entrance to Central High School with the use of the Arkansas National Guard on September 4, 1957.

Primary elections

Primary elections were held on July 29, 1958. By winning over 50% of the vote, Faubus and Johnson avoided run-offs which would have been held on August 12, 1958.[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

George W. Johnson, an attorney in Greenwood, Sebastian County, deliberately abandoned the race in September 1958. He traveled to his son's home in Isle, Minnesota. He told his family, "Mr. Faubus is a fine man and I support him whole-heartedly." He genuinely and naively believed that blacks were intellectually deficient and needed their own schools.

Results

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: . Voting Information . https://books.google.com/books?id=r2pFlUoHBNYC&pg=PA109 . Washington, D.C. . Prepared by Office of Armed Forces Information & Education, Department of Defense . 1958 Elections . 109 . March 1958 . 4 June 2020 .
  2. Book: Reed, Roy . 1997 . Faubus: the Life and Times of an American Prodigal . University of Arkansas Press . Fayetteville, Arkansas . 242 . 1-55728-457-1 .
  3. Book: Murphy, Sara . 1997 . Breaking the Silence: The Little Rock Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, 1958–1963 . Fayetteville, Arkansas . University of Arkansas Press . 65 . 1-55728-456-3 .
  4. News: . Arkansas Voters Get Ready To Go To Polls . Camden News . Camden, Arkansas . 11 August 1958 . 1 . 4 June 2020 .