POD: NAACP does not endorse Wallace in 1958
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On June 3rd, 1958, the Alabaman Democratic primary took place. The election was one of the two real elections that took place in Alabama (the 2nd was the run-off for the primary). George Wallace, the Third Judicial Circuit Judge and former State Representative ran a pretty energetic campaign against Alabama Attorney General John M. Patterson. Wallace was running as a New Deal Liberal, but he stayed silent about civil rights. Once June 3rd came, here was the results:
John M. Patterson: 29.82%
George Wallace: 28.26%
Others: 41.92%
Patterson won the first round, but albeit very narrowly and he only got 30% of the vote, so, on June 24th, 1958, came the run-off. At first, the two were neck on neck until the popular governor "Big Jim" Folsom, a racial moderate like Wallace, endorsed him. Wallace got a lot of momentum after the endorsement, and he then won the primary runoff
George Wallace: 52.18%
John M. Patterson: 47.82%
It is pretty much a proven fact that whoever wins the Alabama Democratic Primary before the 1960s wins the election itself. The Republicans nominated a failed candidate for US congress, William Longshore. The election went just as expected: A Democratic landslide
George Wallace: 93.99%
William Longshore: 6.01%
Wallace's style of campaigning made him get 94% of the vote, with every county but one (Winston, which only went to Longshore by only 339 votes!) going to Wallace.
Wallace knew that he only had 4 years in office, as the Alabama constitution barred governors from seeking a 2nd consecutive term, but they did not say anything about a non-consecutive term....
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Well, what do you guys think?