Controversial Congressional Election Concludes
By Brother Rogers
The Cochran-McDaniel divide in the Mississippi Republican Party and subsequent court challenges that resulted in Senator Thad Cochran’s victory in the Republican primary have produced great political theater. But the controversy pales in comparison to what happened in 1932 when court challenges reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a result of the census of 1930, Mississippi lost a seat in Congress, dropping from eight to seven. (We now have only four.) In 1932 the Mississippi Legislature passed the Blair-White redistricting act which created seven congressional districts by simply combining the 7th and 8th districts, thus leaving the other six districts intact. There was no attempt to create an even distribution of population.
This task was made easier by the death of the 8th district’s congressman, Percy Quin, on February 4, 1932. Of course, the congressman from the 7th district, J.W. Collier, who was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, did not like this plan, but all other incumbents, whose districts were unchanged, highly approved.
The Blair-White redistricting law was struck down in federal court by a three-judge panel, but the Mississippi Democratic Party held its congressional primaries in August anyway. J.W. Collier refused to enter the primary, declaring the entire election unconstitutional. The winners of the Democratic primary elections, then tantamount to winning the general election given the absence of serious Republican opposition, were John Rankin, Wall Doxey, Will Whittington, Jeff Busby, Ross Collins, W.M. Colmer and Russell Ellzey.
Things got interesting when former governor Theodore G. Bilbo entered the race as a candidate. He said the Blair-White bill was “unfair and absolutely unconstitutional.” He declared that since no districts were constitutional, the congressional election would be held at-large, meaning all candidates for Congress would have to run statewide. J.W. Collier agreed and said that he too would run at-large.
The Jackson Daily News also agreed and editorialized, “Falsehood and injustice have characterized every step taken to make the damnable Blair-White redistricting law effective.”
Meanwhile, the state executive committee of the Democratic Party certified the primary winners and called Bilbo and Collier “bolters” for bolting the party. Bilbo barnstormed the state, vilifying his enemies and drawing huge crowds. He said, “If anyone has bolted the Democratic Party it is the executive committee and those running for office who endorse them in their unlawful procedure.” A prominent judge who had attended the 1890 constitutional convention supported Bilbo with a written piece called “Who is a Democrat in Mississippi?”
National Democratic Party Chairman Robert Farley, who was busy trying to elect Franklin Roosevelt as president, endorsed the primary winners. However, when he learned of the controversy, he retracted his support and pronounced the problem “strictly a state affair” and wrote, “I have no right to interfere and take sides.”
When the at-large campaign seemed legitimate, 15 more candidates jumped into the race for Congress, including Buz M. Walker, the former president of Mississippi A&M, for whom the Walker Engineering Building is named on campus. In addition, all candidates began campaigning statewide. For example, Will Colmer of Pascagoula spoke in Amory, while Wall Doxey of Holly Springs campaigned in Laurel.
To defend themselves against Bilbo’s attacks, the seven Democratic nominees decided on a strategy of “all for one, one for all” and chose Whittington as their spokesman. Will Whittington and Theodore Bilbo debated in town after town, reminiscent of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
On October 18, just weeks before the general election, the U.S. Supreme Court, which fast tracked the case, ruled that the Blair-White redistricting law did not violate provisions of the federal redistricting act of 1919, which was updated in 1929 without a requirement that districts be equal or contiguous. Almost immediately, all 15 state-at-large candidates for Congress withdrew from the race. The slate who won in August were elected in November.
The political drama and intrigue lasted from the summer of 1932 almost until the general election. 2014 won’t be the last time someone’s party loyalty and rules for conducting an election are questioned, but it wasn’t the first time either. As Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.
The Cochran-McDaniel divide in the Mississippi Republican Party and subsequent court challenges that resulted in Senator Thad Cochran’s victory in the Republican primary have produced great political theater. But the controversy pales in comparison to what happened in 1932 when court challenges reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
As a result of the census of 1930, Mississippi lost a seat in Congress, dropping from eight to seven. (We now have only four.) In 1932 the Mississippi Legislature passed the Blair-White redistricting act which created seven congressional districts by simply combining the 7th and 8th districts, thus leaving the other six districts intact. There was no attempt to create an even distribution of population.
This task was made easier by the death of the 8th district’s congressman, Percy Quin, on February 4, 1932. Of course, the congressman from the 7th district, J.W. Collier, who was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, did not like this plan, but all other incumbents, whose districts were unchanged, highly approved.
The Blair-White redistricting law was struck down in federal court by a three-judge panel, but the Mississippi Democratic Party held its congressional primaries in August anyway. J.W. Collier refused to enter the primary, declaring the entire election unconstitutional. The winners of the Democratic primary elections, then tantamount to winning the general election given the absence of serious Republican opposition, were John Rankin, Wall Doxey, Will Whittington, Jeff Busby, Ross Collins, W.M. Colmer and Russell Ellzey.
Things got interesting when former governor Theodore G. Bilbo entered the race as a candidate. He said the Blair-White bill was “unfair and absolutely unconstitutional.” He declared that since no districts were constitutional, the congressional election would be held at-large, meaning all candidates for Congress would have to run statewide. J.W. Collier agreed and said that he too would run at-large.
The Jackson Daily News also agreed and editorialized, “Falsehood and injustice have characterized every step taken to make the damnable Blair-White redistricting law effective.”
Meanwhile, the state executive committee of the Democratic Party certified the primary winners and called Bilbo and Collier “bolters” for bolting the party. Bilbo barnstormed the state, vilifying his enemies and drawing huge crowds. He said, “If anyone has bolted the Democratic Party it is the executive committee and those running for office who endorse them in their unlawful procedure.” A prominent judge who had attended the 1890 constitutional convention supported Bilbo with a written piece called “Who is a Democrat in Mississippi?”
National Democratic Party Chairman Robert Farley, who was busy trying to elect Franklin Roosevelt as president, endorsed the primary winners. However, when he learned of the controversy, he retracted his support and pronounced the problem “strictly a state affair” and wrote, “I have no right to interfere and take sides.”
When the at-large campaign seemed legitimate, 15 more candidates jumped into the race for Congress, including Buz M. Walker, the former president of Mississippi A&M, for whom the Walker Engineering Building is named on campus. In addition, all candidates began campaigning statewide. For example, Will Colmer of Pascagoula spoke in Amory, while Wall Doxey of Holly Springs campaigned in Laurel.
To defend themselves against Bilbo’s attacks, the seven Democratic nominees decided on a strategy of “all for one, one for all” and chose Whittington as their spokesman. Will Whittington and Theodore Bilbo debated in town after town, reminiscent of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
On October 18, just weeks before the general election, the U.S. Supreme Court, which fast tracked the case, ruled that the Blair-White redistricting law did not violate provisions of the federal redistricting act of 1919, which was updated in 1929 without a requirement that districts be equal or contiguous. Almost immediately, all 15 state-at-large candidates for Congress withdrew from the race. The slate who won in August were elected in November.
The political drama and intrigue lasted from the summer of 1932 almost until the general election. 2014 won’t be the last time someone’s party loyalty and rules for conducting an election are questioned, but it wasn’t the first time either. As Harry Truman once said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”
Brother Rogers is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.
