1958 Arkansas gubernatorial election
November 4, 1958
Turnout15.02%
 
Nominee Orval Faubus George W. Johnson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 236,598 50,288
Percentage 82.47% 17.53%
Governor before election

Orval Faubus
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Orval Faubus
Democratic

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

Democratic primary results[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Orval Faubus (incumbent) 264,346 68.86
Democratic Chris Finkbeiner 60,173 15.67
Democratic Lee Ward 59,385 15.47
Total votes 383,904 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

  • George W. Johnson, attorney[6]
  • Donald D. Layne, civil engineer[6]

Results

Republican primary results[7][5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican George W. Johnson 3,147 71.20
Republican Donald D. Layne 1,273 28.80
Total votes 4,420 100.00

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

1958 Arkansas gubernatorial election[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Orval Faubus (incumbent) 236,598 82.47% +1.82%
Republican George W. Johnson 50,288 17.53% -1.82%
Majority 186,310 64.94%
Turnout 286,886 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "1958 Elections". Voting Information. Washington, D.C.: Prepared by Office of Armed Forces Information & Education, Department of Defense. March 1958. p. 109. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  2. ↑ Reed, Roy (1997). Faubus: the Life and Times of an American Prodigal. University of Arkansas Press: Fayetteville, Arkansas. p. 242. ISBN 1-55728-457-1.
  3. ↑ 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. p. 65. ISBN 1-55728-456-3.
  4. ↑ "AR Governor, 1958 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  5. 1 2 Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 100.
  6. 1 2 "Arkansas Voters Get Ready To Go To Polls". Camden News. Camden, Arkansas. August 11, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  7. ↑ "AR Governor, 1958 - R Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  8. ↑ "AR Governor, 1958". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  9. ↑ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 42.

Bibliography

  • Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.
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