The
2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2011. Incumbent Governor of Mississippi, Democrat William Jones, was unable to run for a third term due to term limits. Republican challenger William Berry narrowly defeated Lieutenant Governor and Independent candidate Angela Johnson and the Democratic Party candidate Mason Graham for Governorship.
The Democratic Party, who had tightly held the reigns of Mississippi politics since 1876, had won an overwhelming landslide in the 2007 gubernatorial elections under William Jones, however into his second term saw popularity and polling decline. This was principally because of three major factors: The first came as the result of the collapse of the Canadian Confederation in the spring 2008, the Wall Street Tumble of the fall of the same year, a major recession that inflicted major economic damaged to the United States that was felt disproportionately in states reliant on the federal government financial support, such as Mississippi. The second was the State and Federal Government's response to Hurricane Hannah the following year, which caused wide-scale carnage in the south and west of Mississippi, resulting in major loss of life, the displacement of thousands, the crippling of important state infrastructure such as Gulfport and the Mississippi Central Railroad, with Governor Jones and Democratic President Walter Kok criticised heavily for their slow and frugal response to the crisis. The third were a series of industrial disputes that escalated into strikes that caused further chaos to the state economy.
By January 2011, the Democratic Party of Mississippi was the most unpopular in its history, although was buoyant as it remained in higher esteem than the Liberal Party and Republican Party. Some, such as Lieutenant Governor Angela Johnson, were open in regards to the causes for this polling collapse, with Johnson, in her declaration of intention to seek nomination to the Democratic candidacy, declaring that the Party needed to embrace more economically liberal thought and confront the unions head on, reasserting the power of the Governor's Mansion and bringing the dividends of privatisation to the people. Her primary Primary challenger, Representative Mason Graham, made a similar pledge, admitting that there was a need for the state to sell of its private industries, although opposed Johnson as an 'extremist', instead positioning himself as a populist anti-D.C. candidate who promised to deliver a program of 'Washington-style Social Credit' to Mississippi, exploiting ignorance of volatile Washington State's political climate and the perception of the states supposed prosperity following the implementation of Social Credit economic policies.
The campaign between Johnson and Graham was noticably fierce, with reports of Graham supporters, operating openly and on Graham's command, defacing the campaign signs and billboards of Johnson, as well as an intense negative advertisement storm in broadcasting and social media, with Johnson accused Graham of being a phoney populist who was D.C. through and through, while Graham did his best to tie Johnson to Governor Jones. The party convention in Houston became referred to as the "Rumble in Chickasaw" when open fighting broke out on the convention floor between Johnson and Graham. Graham had secured nomination by a single delegate thanks to the Conventions delegate system, despite Johnson having won the popular vote. During Graham victory speech, Johnson and her supports walked out, and formed a small rally outside the convention centre. Johnson declared that she would instead run Independent, calling the results a "stitch-up". A week later, Governor Jones made the fateful request that the Federal Government oversee voting and counting to prevent irregularities.
With a split in the Democratic Party, hope was found for other parties. The Liberal Party, the second largest party in Mississippi, fresh off 2010 mid-term victories both nationally and specifically in Louisiana and Missouri, turned their attention to the Magnolia state, which Senate Majority Leader Bernie Chen referred to as their "key to unlocking Dixie". Having won 21.2% of the popular vote in 2007, the Liberal Party sought a fusion ballot with the Republican Party, a large third party in the state of Mississippi, and the rump of the former national party of the same name, who achieved 15.5% of the popular vote in the same election. Despite expectations, the largely african-american executive of the party rejected the Liberal Party offer, referring to it as a "demand" and an "infringement on black autonomy by the white supremacists of the Liberal Party". Chen, himself a third generation Asian-American, personally travelled to Jackson to rebuff the Republican Party and to oversea nomination. They would nominate Drew Whiteman, the Mayor of Biloxi. The Republican Party would nominate William Berry, a socialist, civil rights, and union campaigner from Jackson. Berry's nomination was fatal to the Liberal Party; well respected and charismatic, although a polarising figure among Mississippi whites, Berry was intensely popular among black and young voters.
During July and early August, a great deal of media attention was focused around Johnson and Graham; both had quickly taken leads in the polls, and traded first and second place. For most Mississippians, this was simply a dull rehash of the primary, with the same level of intensity. Some felt that Johnson was a sore loser. Others felt that Graham was self-righteous and short sighted. In mid-August, Graham began to maintain a steady lead in the polls at 40%, while Johnson began to decline, shedding over 13% between August 15th and the debates on October 1st. The Republican Party, conversely, held out at third place, far above the Liberals, who struggled to gain momentum. The Debates would be their death knell. Held by the M-CPB, the hour long broadcast was a resounding success for the Republican Party, with Berry surging to the top in opinion polls; among those who viewed it on television, 32% supported Berry; of those who listened to it on the radio, and thus unaware of Berry's race, this number was much higher at 57%. The debate would be fatal for the Liberal Party; Whiteman was uncharismatic and uncomfortable, and rendered a stuttering mess when asked about his relationship with anti-Union lobbies. Both Johnson and Graham were otherwise seen as bickering, but offering no blue water between them. With this, the campaign exploded into a three horse race.
However with Berry now seen as a serious runner, Johnson and Graham turned their attention to him. The Klu Klux Klan and Redshirt Battalions began a sudden campaign of intimidation, flooding the Mississippi and Yazoo Delta, attacking Republican Party offices and campaigners. For his part, Governor Jones refused to deal with this, noting that it was his constitutional duty to not interfere with the election. The Federal Government was less hands-off, and when Redshirt gunmen massacred recovery workers, Jones was forced to deploy the National Guard. Graham denounced the KKK and Redshirts at a rally in Jackson, stating that he was no in the business of letting "terrorists and anti-black thugs campaign for me". In an instant, Graham was perceived to have tied his campaign to civil rights, despite his platform up to that point been specifically dancing around the issue. Johnson, who only condemned the actions taken by the Klan and Redshirts, saw her own numbers boost well over Graham's.
The result was an otherwise tense election day. Held with Soldiers on the street and in the polling areas, many expected that Johnson would win; she had the poll numbers and, importantly to many commentators, was white, Berry dismissed out of hand due to his race as "Mississippi would never elect a [expletive]". Berry's victory was thus a shock. Largely thanks to a high turnout in the Delta among both african-americans and support from unions, Berry was able to edge out Johnson with 32.7% of the vote against 31.2%, and a majority of, after three recounts, 19,670. Graham conceded when it was clear he had lost to either; Johnson following a failed fourth recount. The Liberal Party won only 1% of the vote. Whiteman would go missing shortly after the election; his location remains unknown. At his victory speech in Jackson, Berry promised an "equal state" and that he would be "the Governor for everyone", and shared the stage with Union officials. The Mississippi Legislator was happy to ensure this would never happen.
Despite the split in the Democratic gubernatorial ticket, the Democrats did not split in the House or Senate and thus, despite the down ballot surge for the Republicans, retained a supermajority. Immediately preceding Berry's inauguration, the Legislator passed several acts that curtailed the powers of the Mississippi Governor's Office, exploiting their own veto-proof majority. When Berry entered office, he was effectively powerless. This was not enough, however, and in August 2012, Berry was impeached. Mississippi was furious; although many were happy to see Berry gone, others felt that Berry had been tricked by a party that was too entrenched for its own good, and despite personal objection, he had won fair and square. Although the Lieutenant Governor, Democrat Peter Wilson, took the Governor's Mansion, Berry was elected to the US Senate in 2012 on a massive write-in campaign; the Republicans made strong showings in Louisiana and won House seats across the South. America was warming up to socialism, and the Republican Party was more than happy to give them it.