1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election
November 2, 1971
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County results Waller: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Evers: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Mississippi |
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The 1971 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on 2 November 1971 for the post of Governor of Mississippi. The incumbent governor, Democrat John Bell Williams, was ineligible due to term limits, a rule that was changed to two back-to-back terms in the 1980s.
Democrat Bill Waller, the former District Attorney of Hinds County, was chosen as his party's nominee in a contested primary. Running as an independent, mayor of Fayette Charles Evers became the first African-American candidate for governor of Mississippi.
To date, this is the most recent time that Rankin County voted Democratic in a gubernatorial election.