The National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA) was a political party active in the U.S. state of Alabama that opposed the segregationist governor George Wallace.

1968 election During the 1968 presidential election, Alabama's Democratic Party supported the former Governor George Wallace who was the presidential nominee of the American Independent Party. Supporters of the national Democratic Party nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, left the party to support the national slate.

In 1968 led by John L. Cashin, Jr., a dentist from Huntsville who had been active in the voter registration group the Alabama Democratic Conference, Democrats loyal to Humphrey and national Democratic Party formed the NDPA as a vehicle to field a slate of electors pledged to him and not to Wallace. Although the national Democratic Party supported Humphrey, Wallace was put on the ballot in his home state as official Democratic nominee. Additionally, in 1964, the Democratic Party of Alabama's electors were unpledged instead of being pledged to Lyndon Johnson, a moot point since Alabama voted in large numbers for Barry Goldwater.

There were precedent for the behavior of the state party machinery such as when Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond was the Democratic nominee in 1948 in some southern states despite Harry S. Truman being the Democratic nominee. In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy was on the ballot, but the state was carried by a split slate in which most electors were unpledged, opting for Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd in the electoral college. In 1964, the Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson was not on the ballot in Alabama, and an unpledged electors slate was officially nominated by Alabama's Democrats.

At the time, Alabama listed all the electors on the ballot but not the presidential candidate, so Democratic presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey was supported by the National Democratic slate (whose most popular elector won 54,144 votes) and an "Alabama Independent Democrat" slate (whose most popular elector won 142,435 votes). Wallace was supported by the Democratic Party of Alabama and unaffiliated American Independent electors (they were unaffiliated since the totals of different electors couldn't be added together). In the election for the US Senate, Democratic candidate Jim Allen won 638,774 votes, to 201,227 votes for Republican Perry Hooper and 72,699 votes for National Democrat Robert P. Schwenn.

Wallace garnered 65.86% of the Alabama vote, with Humphrey coming second with 18.72%.Our Campaigns - AL US President Race - Nov 05, 1968

Post 1968 activity

During the 1970 Alabama gubernatorial election, John Cashin ran as the NDPA candidate for governor against George Wallace,Huntsville Madison County Public Library : Item Viewer getting 15% of the vote.National Democratic Party of Alabama, Encyclopedia of Alabama Wallace was easily re-elected with 637,046 (74.51%) votes against Cashin who won only 125,491 (14.68%).

The American bald eagle was the symbol of the NDPA, which was often opposed by the Democratic Rooster in local Democratic elections.

NDPA candidates ran in many other statewide races, but never polled above 31% or won any statewide office until losing ballot access in 1982.OurCampaign

Local politics

The party became a prominent voice for African American voting rights and an important player in local politics in Black-dominated communities such as Greene County, Hale County, Perry County, Lowndes County and Dallas County, although it failed to make a lasting impact on state politics.Button, James, review of Black Parties and Political Power: A Case Study by Hardy T. Frye, published in The Journal of Politics, Vol. 44, No. 1. (Feb., 1982), pp. 261-263.Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement Archive – John Hulett

The NDPA was able to get around a hundred local officials elected, especially in the western part of the state. The political scientists Hanes Walton Jr. and William H. Boone cited the NDPA as an example of a successful sub-national African American political party.

The importance of the NDPA must be viewed in terms of the impact that it had on politics in the Alabama Black Belt. A number of elected officials credited Cashin and the NDPA for their success including Probate Judge William McKinley Branch,1st Black Probate Judge in the nation Sheriff without a Gun Thomas GilmoreBranch's nephew and 2nd elected Black Sheriff in the nation and Peter Kirksey.1st Black member of the Greene County Board of Education Even after the revolution of the mid-1960s that brought these pioneers to power in Greene County, the shadow of the eagles hovered over Greene County for a generation.

General election results Federal offices United States Senate Year Class Candidate Votes % Place Ref 1980 Class III Sallie M. Hadnott 2,973 5th of 7 1972 Class II John L. LeFlore 31,421 3rd of 5 1968 Class III Robert P. Schwenn 72,699 3rd of 3

United States House of Representatives Year District Candidate Votes % Place Ref 1976 6th Billy E. Dorsey 1,021 3rd of 3 Election Statistics - Office of the Clerk 1974 1st Mary B. McCarthy 3,638 3rd of 3 7th Lewis Black 2,085 3rd of 3 1972 1st Thomas McAboy Jr. 7,747 3rd of 3 Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972 Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives 2nd Richard Boone 4,991 3rd of 4 3rd John Ford 3,392 3rd of 4 5th Shirley Irwin 1,898 3rd of 3 6th Al Thomas 3,887 3rd of 5 7th Lewis Black 15,703 2nd of 3 1970 1st Noble Beasley 13,798 3rd of 3 2nd Percy Smith Jr. 13,281 3rd of 3 3rd Detroit Lee 8,537 2nd of 2 4th Wilpha Harrel Jr. 1,903 3rd of 3 5th T. Y. Rogers 24,863 2nd of 2 8th Thornton Stanley 4,846 3rd of 4 1968 1st Noble Beasley 4,679 3rd of 4 2nd Richard Boone 11,446 3rd of 3 3rd Wilbur Johnston 8,031 2nd of 3 4th T. J. Clemons 9,248 2nd of 3 5th William McKinley Branch 28,040 2nd of 5 6th Thomas Wrenn 12,976 3rd of 3 7th James Bane 2,258 3rd of 4 8th Charlie Burgess 7,140 3rd of 4 State offices Statewide constitutional Year Race Candidate Votes % Place Ref 1982 Gubernatorial John Jackson 4,693 5th of 7 1970 Gubernatorial John L. Cashin Jr. 125,491 2nd of 6 Lieutenant gubernatorial Isaiah Hayes III 92,176 3rd of 5 Secretary of state Sally M. Hadnott 100,526 2nd of 2 State auditor Mary Pandow 102,015 2nd of 3 State treasurer Owen Butler 96,944 2nd of 3 Agriculture commissioner John Henry Davis 98,259 2nd of 3

State senate Year District Candidate Votes % Place 1982 23rd Bill Johnston 1,734 3rd of 3 1974 7th Ernestine Langford 1,182 2nd of 2 23rd Robert Harris 2,097 3rd of 3 26th Oscar Cook 1,945 3rd of 4 29th Amelia Boynton Robinson 6,483 2nd of 2 30th Martin Goodson 2,799 2nd of 2 1970 2nd Tom King 940 2nd of 2 7th Lynn Ridgeway 415 2nd of 2 10th H. Western Lost 2nd of 2 12th place 1 John Billingsley 25,917 2nd of 3 12th place 2 T. L. Crowell 24,001 2nd of 3 12th place 3 Herbert Johnson 22,448 2nd of 3 12th place 4 William. M. Pruitt 23,062 2nd of 3 12th place 5 Georgia Price 23,816 2nd of 4 12th place 6 Charles F. Williams 23,160 2nd of 3 12th place 7 Emory. L. Whittaker 24,424 2nd of 3 18th O. B. Wilson 3,731 2nd of 3 19th Damon Kiel 1,239 2nd of 2

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