United States gubernatorial election 1987
The 1987 United States gubernatorial election took place between October 24 and November 3, 1987. The states of Kentucky , Louisiana and Mississippi were elected . In all three cases, as four years earlier, the candidates of the Democratic Party prevailed.
Of the three incumbents, only Edwin Edwards sought re-election in Louisiana. However, after a difficult tenure during which he faced prosecution charges and troubled state finances, his popularity had plummeted. In the Jungle Primary , the primary in which several representatives of one party can run, he then had to deal not only with Republican Congressman Bob Livingston , but also with four strong rivals within the party: Congressmen Buddy Roemer and Billy Tauzin , the Secretary of State Jim Brown and Speedy O. Long , ex-congressman and cousin of Huey Pierce Long .
Even so, it was considered certain that Edwards, given his reputation, would at least reach the runoff; the only question was who his opponent would be there. He himself hoped in Livingston, especially since in Louisiana only one Republican had been elected governor since the Reconstruction . Ultimately, however, it came down to Buddy Roemer, who had declared in a panel discussion that he would support every candidate except Edwards in a runoff election. His slogan "We've got to slay the dragon", which was also uttered on this occasion, became popular.
Roemer took first place in the Jungle Primary with 33.2 percent, followed by Edwards (27.9), Livingston (18.5), Tauzin (9.9) and Brown (8.9). Thus it would have come to a runoff between Roemer and Edwards, but the governor waived it, so Roemer automatically won the election. This was seen as a political move by Edwards, as it prevented the expected clear victory for Roemer. This changed his party affiliation during the following term of office and became a Republican.
The election in Mississippi was far less spectacular. There, William Allain , who had been victorious four years earlier, had initiated an amendment to the constitution, according to which a governor was now able to serve two terms. He himself made no use of it, so that in his place Ray Mabus , the State Auditor (chief auditor) of Mississippi, ran for the Democrats and won with 53.4 percent of the vote. His opponent, Republican Jack Reed, achieved a respectable success with a share of 46.6 percent in the state ruled by Democrats since 1876.
In Kentucky, Martha Layne Collins constitutionally resigned from office after four years. Her predecessor John Brown , Julian Carroll , another ex-governor and lieutenant governor Steve Beshear and, as an unknown outsider, Wallace G. Wilkinson , a politically inexperienced businessman, applied for the democratic nomination . Completely surprisingly, Wilkinson, who was supported by the popular former governor Happy Chandler , made the race and then also won the actual election by a large margin. He got 64.5 percent of the vote, the Republican John R. Harper only 34.9 percent.
