en 1998 Alabama gubernatorial election

1998 Alabama gubernatorial election
	County results; Siegelman: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; James: 50–60%
Governor before election; Fob James; Republican	Elected Governor ; Don Siegelman; Democratic

The Alabama gubernatorial election of 1998 was held on November 3, 1998, to select the governor of Alabama. The election saw incumbent Governor Fob James (R) against Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman (D). The result saw Don Siegelman win a decisive victory over Fob James. This was the second of three consecutive Alabama gubernatorial elections in which the incumbent was defeated. As of 2024, this was the last time that a Democrat was elected governor of Alabama.

Republican primary

The Republican primary took place on June 2 and saw no candidate secure over 50% of the vote, leading to a runoff between Fob James and Winton Blount on June 30. The period leading up to the runoff election was marked by numerous insults and accusations by both candidates against each other.^[1] Incumbent Governor Fob James won the runoff 55% to 44%.

Candidates

Winton Blount, businessman, candidate for Governor in 1994 and son of former U.S. Postmaster General Winton M. Blount
Guy Hunt, former Governor
Fob James, incumbent Governor
Mac McAllister, businessman^[2]
Phil Williams Sr., former Director of the Alabama Department of Finance

Results

Republican primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fob James (incumbent)	163,711	47.96
	Republican	Winton Blount	139,941	40.99
	Republican	Guy Hunt	27,824	8.15
	Republican	Mac McAllister	5,641	1.65
	Republican	Phil Williams	4,258	1.25
Total votes			341,375	100.00

Debate

1998 Alabama gubernatorial election republican primary debate
No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Republican
Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn
					Winton Blount	Fob James
1	Jun. 25, 1998	WVTM-TV	Fran Curry	C-SPAN	P	P

Republican primary runoff results^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Fob James (incumbent)	253,965	55.92
	Republican	Winton Blount	200,200	44.08
Total votes			454,165	100.00

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary took place on June 2 and saw Lieutenant Governor Don Siegelman easily chosen as the Democratic nominee over Birmingham attorney Lenora Pate and Wayne Sowell.

Candidates

Lee Lamb
Lenora Pate, attorney and former Director of the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations^[5]
Don Siegelman, Lieutenant Governor of Alabama

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Don Siegelman	254,507	78.26
	Democratic	Lenora Pate	53,618	16.49
	Democratic	Wayne Sowell	10,108	3.11
	Democratic	Lee Lamb	6,597	2.03
Total votes			325,190	100.00

General election

Debate

1998 Alabama gubernatorial debate
No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn
					Fob James	Don Siegelman
1	Oct. 6, 1998	Junior League of Birmingham	Malena Cunningham	C-SPAN	P	P

Results

1998 Alabama gubernatorial election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Don Siegelman	752,087	57.92	+8.5
	Republican	Fob James (incumbent)	546,504	42.08	−8.2
Total votes			1,298,591	100.00	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

^ "Alabama's Republican Runoff Gets Nasty". CNN. June 30, 1998. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
^ Sack, Kevin (June 3, 1998). "Alabama Governor Forced Into Runoff in 3d-Term Bid". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "Alabama Primary Results - June 3, 1998". www.cnn.com.
^ "Alabama Runoff Results - June 30, 1998". www.cnn.com.
^ "Alabama Governor: The Candidates". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2014.

1998 Alabama gubernatorial election

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Debate

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Debate

Results

References

External links

See also