Bilbo lead rises; chances slight for runoff (7-3-46)

1

The Evening Star (July 3, 1946)

Bilbo lead rises; chances slight for runoff

Senator holds 2,516 margin over rivals; Rankin easy winner

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) – Sen. Bilbo gained ground on his four opponents today as belated returns piled in, and more and more it appeared that he won renomination to the Senate in yesterday’s Mississippi Democratic primary election, where Negroes voted for the first time.

There still were enough missing precincts to change the situation but the unofficial count from 1,433 of the state’s 1,701 precincts gave the outspoken advocate of white supremacy a 2,516-vote margin over the totals of his rivals.

The figures were:
Sen. Bilbo 90,624
State Supreme Court Clerk Tom Q. Ellis 55,056
Former Rep. Ross A. Collins 17,439
Nelton T. Levins 14,273
Frank Harper 2,340

The trend toward the status quo swept John E. Rankin of Tupelo back into the House, where he has served since 1920.

Two other representatives also won renomination. In the fifth district, Arthur Winstead had an insurmountable edge over J. O. Hollis. Returns from 186 of 302 precincts gave Rep. Winstead 13,461 votes compared to Mr. Hollis 7,312.

Rep. William M. Colmer of the sixth district had a margin over Grover C. Doggette, 22,821 votes to 18,374, with 282 of 340 boxes counted.

McGehee in runoff

But in the big seventh district, Rep. Dan R. McGehee was forced into a runoff against John Bell Williams, one-armed war veteran. Returns from 225 of 316 precincts gave Rep. McGehee 13,183 votes, against 10,917 for Mr. Williams. Stewart C. Broom polled 3,186 votes, and C. A. Sullivan had 5,927.

Bilbo supporters saw favorable signs in the distribution of missing precincts. There were some boxes to be reported in 58 of the state’s 82 counties. Sen. Bilbo was leading in 49 of the counties with some absent returns, and Mr. Ellis in only nine.

The voting passed quietly, with no reported acts of violence connected with the attempts of Negroes to cast ballots.

Negro voting varies

The situation regarding Negro voting varied from place to place. More than 100 Negroes voted in Jackson without incident. In Bolivar County they were systematically challenged on the grounds that they had not been “in accord” with the party for the past two years, as required by law for voting in the Democratic primary. However, many were allowed to vote, their ballots being segregated pending a decision on validity by the State Central Democratic Committee.

Elsewhere in the delta, more than 100 voted at Clarksdale and a few at Greenville.

On the coast, a few voted at Biloxi and some others were turned away from the polls. Negroes voted at Gulfport, but none voted at Pass Christian, where 81 had cast ballots earlier this year in a local primary.

More than 30 voted at Meridian and a few at Laurel. Some were turned away at each place. None voted at West Point.

No estimate wax possible of the total number of Negroes who attempted to vote, who cast ballots and who were turned away. Indications were that perhaps a thousand cast ballots.

Of these, about 200 were in the all-Negro town of Mound Bayou.

2

All-Negro community gives Bilbo 12 votes in Senate race

MOUND BAYOU, Mississippi (AP) – Sen. Bilbo, who campaigned on a platform of “white supremacy” in Mississippi, got 12 votes in this all-Negro community in yesterday’s Democratic primary election.

Harvard-educated Mayor A. B. Green reported this tally of votes in the Mound Bayou boxes:
Tom Q. Ellis 42
Nelson T. Levings 27
Ross Collins 18
Frank Harper 13
Sen. Bilbo 12
3

The Pittsburgh Press (July 3, 1946)

Bilbo victory believed likely

Nearest foe still hopes for runoff

JACKSON, Mississippi (UP) – Mississippi voters today appeared to have endorsed Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo for a third term. It was still possible that he could be forced into a run-off.

Sen. Bilbo held a lead of more than 38,000 votes over his nearest opponent, Tom Q. Ellis, but his majority over all four in the Democratic primary was only 2,719. Less than 204 of the 1,713 precincts were unreported.

The senator’s headquarters said he was confident he had won renomination hands down, but Mr. Ellis still hoped for a runoff.

“I want to take a good look at the votes when they are all in,” Mr. Ellis said. “I don’t say I’ll ask for a recount, but I want to make mighty sure I’ve lost before I concede.”

It was not believed that the 200 or so Negro votes which had been challenged and impounded at Natchez and Mound Bayou would change the result even though they later are validated and counted.

With unofficial returns tabulated from 1,509 of Mississippi’s 1,713 precincts, Sen. Bilbo, campaigning on a platform of white supremacy, held 2,719 vote lead over the combined total of his four opponents.

The returns gave:
Bilbo 95,389
Tom Q. Ellis 57,252
Ross Collins 19,004
Nelson Levings 15,009
Frank Harper 1,405

Rep. John E. Rankin, who had also built his race on a white supremacy ticket, won renomination.

Two other representatives, Arthur Winstead of the Fifth District, and William M. Colmer of the Sixth, won renomination, but Seventh District Rep. Dan McGehee was forced into a runoff with John Bell Williams.

Negro voters rejected

Approximately 3,000 of Mississippi’s 5,000 registered Negro voters participated in the ballot. Feared opposition to their appearance at the polls failed to materialize except at Pass Christian on the Gulf Coast where Negro voters were turned away after a few had been allowed to vote.

As the Mississippi vote was being tabulated, former Rep. Collins, one of Mr. Bilbo’s opponents, asked the U.S. Senate to investigate charges that Mr. Bilbo had received $25,000 from a Mississippi firm in “flagrant” violation of federal and state statutes.

The request was sent by Mr. Collins to Sen. Theodore F. Green (D-Rhode Island) of the Senate Privileges and Election Committee.

Mr. Collins said Mr. Bilbo “reportedly” described the fund as a voluntary contribution to the unsuccessful Senate candidacy of Wall Doxey, present Senate sergeant-at-arms.

4

The Evening Star (July 4, 1946)

Sen. Bilbo says he’s sorry he wasn’t in South-wide election

JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) – Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo, who apparently was renominated for election in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, says he’s sorry that he wasn’t in a South-wide election.

In a telephone interview from his Poplarville home, Sen. Bilbo, who made white supremacy the No. 1 issue during his campaign for renomination against four opponents, said:

“We have met the enemy and they are ours. We will now sing ‘God Bless Mississippi.’ The only regret I have is that I could not have been in a South-wide election because I made the same fight and have the same convictions that a great majority of Southerners have.”

With only 43 of the state’s 1,701 precincts missing, Sen. Bilbo held a 4,102 majority on the basis of unofficial returns from the Democratic primary in which Negroes voted for the first time.

The unofficial returns showed that the senator polled 96,847 votes; Tom Q. Ellis, State Supreme Court clerk, 57,336; former Rep. Ross Collins, 18,613; Nelson T. Levings, naval veteran, 15,396, and Frank Harper, peach tree salesman, 1,397.

On the basis of the unofficial returns only one of the four incumbent members of the House with opposition in the first primary faces a runoff. He is Rep. Dan R. McGehee of the seventh district, who probably will meet John Bell Williams in the second primary.

Apparently nominated and therefore re-elected in one-party Mississippi are Reps. John E. Rankin, also an outspoken supporter of white supremacy, from the first district; Arthur Winstead, fifth district, and William Colmer in the sixth.

Reps. Jamie L. Whitten, second district; Will M. Whittington, third, and Thomas G. Abernathy, faced no opposition in the primary.