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1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi

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FieldValue
election_name1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi
countryMississippi
flag_imageFlag of Mississippi (1894-1996).svg
typepresidential
ongoingno
previous_election1982 United States Senate election in Mississippi
previous_year1982
election_dateNovember 8, 1988
next_election1994 United States Senate election in Mississippi
next_year1994
image1Trent Lott 98th Congress.png
nominee1**Trent Lott**
party1Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote1**510,380**
percentage1**53.91%**
map_image1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi results map by county.svg
map_size170px
map_captionCounty results
**Lott**:
**Dowdy**:
titleU.S. Senator
before_electionJohn C. Stennis
before_partyDemocratic Party (United States)
after_electionTrent Lott
after_partyRepublican Party (United States)
image_sizex150px
image2Wayne Dowdy.png
nominee2Wayne Dowdy
party2Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote2436,339
percentage246.09%

Lott:
Dowdy:
The 1988 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John C. Stennis decided to retire instead of seeking a seventh full term. Republican Trent Lott won the open seat, becoming the first of his party to win this seat since 1874.

This was the first time since the end of Reconstruction in 1877 that Mississippi had two Republican senators serving concurrently.

Democratic primary

Candidates

  • Wayne Dowdy, U.S. Representative from McComb since 1981
  • Dick Molpus, Secretary of State of Mississippi
  • Gilbert Fountain, Biloxi pipefitter

Dean Pittman managed Dowdy's campaign.

During the campaign Molpus criticized Dowdy for his low voting attendance of 68 percent, a line of rhetoric which was later used by Republican nominee Trent Lott in the general election.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

  • Trent Lott, U.S. Representative from Pascagoula since 1973, House Minority Whip since 1981

General

During Lott's tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives he opposed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, and the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day while Dowdy supported those bills. Robert Goodman, who Bill Minor named Dr. Feelgood for being able to portray candidates positively, was hired by Lott's campaign to create advertisements in anticipation to attacks on his voting record by Dowdy. Lott voted in favor of cutting Social Security spending while Dowdy voted against, but Lott argued that he was more likely to support Social Security as his mother lived off of it while Dowdy's family was worth $60 million.

Blacks for Trent Lott was formed by Isadora Hyde and Cleve McDowell, a former field director for the NAACP in the Delta region, worked for Lott's campaign. Dowdy's campaign criticized Lott for only having hired two black people out of the 163 people he had hired since 1972. Lott claimed that he hired many black workers, but "I don't keep count" and later claimed he hired five or six black workers.

Country musician Mel Tillis made radio ads for him targeted at rural areas in northern Mississippi. Dowdy received 87% of the black vote.

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administeredSample
sizeMargin
of errorTrent
Lott
RepublicanWayne
Dowdy
DemocraticOther /
Undecided
*The Clarion-Ledger*/WLOXOctober 31 – November 2, 1988817 LV±3.5%**48%**34%18%

Endorsements

Municipal officials

  • Charles Evers, mayor of Fayette, Mississippi (1969–1981; 1985–1989)

Newspapers

  • The Commercial Appeal

Newspapers

  • The Clarion-Ledger

Results

References

Works cited

References

  1. "MS US Senate - D Primary". Our Campaigns.
  2. (November 6, 1988). "Bush, Lott way out front in statewide polls". [[The Clarion-Ledger]].
  3. "MS US Senate". Our Campaigns.
Info: Wikipedia Source

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united-states-senate-elections-in-mississippi 1988-united-states-senate-elections 1988-mississippi-elections trent-lott
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