The 1966 Alabama Senate election took place on Tuesday, November 8, 1966, to elect 35 representatives to serve four-year terms in the Alabama Senate. Across the 35 districts, only 6 seats were actually at stake in the November general election. As the Democratic Party was dominant in the state, state legislative seats were generally decided at the Democratic primary election. This was the first Senate election since a federal court ordered the first legislative reapportionment in the state since 1901.
The Democratic primaries were held on May 1 with a runoff on May 29. Due to late-term redistricting in July 1962, two special Democratic primaries had to be held on August 28 with runoffs on September 11. In the new District 22 (Blount–St. Clair), no candidate from either county won a Senate nomination in the regular Democratic primary, and the new District 30 (Dallas–Lowndes) had its regular primary in Lowndes County voided.
At the beginning of the 1963 session, George C. Hawkins of Etowah was unanimously elected president pro tempore.
Redistricting
For the 1962 election, the legislature adopted a new state senate map, the first reapportionment since 1901. A few counties were swapped around, but rural areas of the state still had an overwhelming advantage in terms of representation. The legislature would be forced to create a fairer senate map which would be in force by the 1966 general election. Counties shuffled Counties in italics were removed from the district, and counties in boldface were added. Districts and counties not listed here were not affected in the redistricting. 11 districts had their boundaries changed as a result of 8 county shuffles. District Before After 3rd Blount–Cullman–Winston Cullman–Winston 6th Etowah–St. Clair Etowah 12th Fayette–Lamar–Walker Fayette–Walker 14th Pickens–Sumter Lamar–Pickens 16th Lowndes Monroe–Wilcox 20th Marengo Marengo–Sumter 21st Baldwin–Escambia–Monroe Baldwin–Escambia 22nd Wilcox Blount–St. Clair 24th Barbour Barbour–Pike 25th Coffee–Crenshaw–Pike Coffee–Crenshaw 30th Dallas Dallas–Lowndes
Deviation The table below will show the most-populated and least-populated senate districts under the 1901 and 1962 apportionment plans. The population of Alabama at the 1960 census was 3,266,740, with an ideal population of 93,335 people under a 35-district plan. Plan District Population % of ideal Diff. 1901 Jefferson 634,864 680.20% 41.17 Lowndes 15,417 16.52% 1962 Jefferson 634,864 680.20% 20.01 Bibb–Perry 31,715 33.98%
Summary
Party Candidates SeatsNum.Vote%BeforeWon +/– Democratic 35 281,022 90.18% 35 35 Republican 6 30,566 9.81% 0 0 Write-in 25 0.01% — 0 Total 41 311,613 100% 35 35
Incumbents DistrictIncumbent PartyElected Senator Party 1st Bert Haltom Dem Ed Norton Dem 2nd Robert R. Berryman Dem Bob Gilchrist Dem 3rd Elwood Rutledge Dem Harlan G. Allen Dem 4th Billy Laxson Dem Roscoe O. Roberts Dem 5th D. Donald Word Dem Clayton Carter Dem 6th Ray Wyatt Dem George C. Hawkins Dem 7th A. C. Shelton Dem A. C. Shelton Dem 8th G. Kyser Leonard Dem Bill Nichols Dem 9th Bill Hines Dem Julian Lowe Dem 10th Upshaw G. Jones Dem Sonny Hornsby Dem 11th Ryan deGraffenried Sr. Dem Bill McCain Dem 12th Woodrow Roberts Dem Bob Wilson Dem 13th Larry Dumas Dem Larry Dumas Dem 14th Aubrey Green Dem Gaillard Robison Dem 15th Joe Graham Dem Jimmy McDow Dem 16th Carl Golson Dem Roland Cooper Dem 17th Bob Kendall Dem H. B. Taylor Dem 18th Norman Crawford Dem H. P. James Dem 19th Dennis Porter Dem Albert H. Evans Dem 20th E. O. Eddins Dem E. O. Eddins Dem 21st Douglas Webb Dem L. W. Brannon Dem 22nd Roland Cooper Dem Roland Cooper Dem 23rd Rufus Barnett Dem Neil Metcalf Dem 24th Jimmy Clark Dem Jimmy Clark Dem 25th Alton Turner Dem W. Ray Lolley Dem 26th Snag Andrews Dem Ed Reynolds Dem 27th Yetta Samford Dem Joseph W. Smith Dem 28th Vaughn Hill Robison Dem Vaughn Hill Robison Dem 29th George Godfrey Dem Kenneth Hammond Dem 30th Walter C. Givhan Dem Walter C. Givhan Dem 31st Hugh Moses Dem W. Emmett Oden Dem 32nd Flute Wilson Dem Charles A. Montgomery Dem 33rd Will Caffey Dem John M. Tyson Dem 34th John Gaither Dem Pete Mathews Dem 35th Carl Farmer Dem Charlie Adams Dem
Won re-election
District 7: A. C. Shelton (Democratic) won re-election. District 13: Larry Dumas (Democratic) won re-election. District 20: E. O. Eddins (Democratic) won re-election. District 22: Roland Cooper (Democratic) won re-election. District 24: Jimmy Clark (Democratic) won re-election. District 28: Vaughn Hill Robison (Democratic) won re-election. District 30: Walter C. Givhan (Democratic) won re-election.
Eliminated in primary
District 8: G. Kyser Leonard (Democratic) lost re-nomination to Bill Nichols. District 16: Carl Golson (Democratic) appeared to lose the regular Democratic primary and attempted to contest the election; withdrew contest after new legislative maps were put in place.
Did not seek re-election
District 1: Bert Haltom (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor. District 2: Robert R. Berryman (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for the House seat in Lawrence County. District 3: Elwood Rutledge (Democratic) retired. District 4: Billy Laxson (Democratic) retired. District 5: D. Donald Word (Democratic) retired. District 6: Ray Wyatt (Democratic) retired. District 9: Bill Hines (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for the 2nd place House seat in Chambers County. District 10: Upshaw G. Jones (Democratic) retired. District 11: Ryan deGraffenried Sr. (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for governor. District 12: Woodrow Roberts (Democratic) retired. District 14: Aubrey Green (Democratic) retired to serve as the international president of Lions Club International. District 15: Joe Graham (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for the State Democratic Executive Committee. District 17: Bob Kendall (Democratic) retired. District 18: Norman Crawford (Democratic) retired. District 19: Dennis Porter (Democratic) retired. District 21: Douglas Webb (Democratic) retired. District 23: Rufus Barnett (Democratic) retired. District 25: Alton Turner (Democratic) successfully ran for the House seat in Crenshaw County. District 26: Snag Andrews (Democratic) retired. District 27: Yetta Samford (Democratic) retired. District 29: George Godfrey (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for the House seat in Cherokee County. District 31: Hugh Moses (Democratic) retired. District 32: Flute Wilson (Democratic) unsuccessfully ran for Agriculture Commissioner. District 33: Will Caffey (Democratic) retired. District 34: John Gaither (Democratic) retired. District 35: Carl Farmer (Democratic) retired.
General election results By district
District Democratic Republican Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes 1st Ed Norton 8,962 81.67% J. C. Mauldin 2,011 18.33% 10,973 +6,951 +63.35% 3rd Harlan G. Allen 7,441 54.02% H. Guy Hunt 6,334 45.98% 13,775 +1,107 +8.04% 15th Jimmy McDow 6,898 65.53% Emmett D. Wyatt 3,628 34.47% 10,526 +3,270 +31.07% 17th H. B. Taylor 6,535 68.56% J. R. Bennett 2,997 31.44% 9,532 +3,538 +37.12% 28th Vaughan Hill Robison 10,228 54.41% Perry O. Hooper 8,569 45.59% 18,797 +1,659 +8.83% 33rd John M. Tyson 24,430 77.66% W. D. Carson 7,027 22.34% 31,457 +17,403 +55.32% Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1963 (p. 777–782)
Elected without opposition Every candidate elected with no opponents was a Democrat.
District 2: Bob Gilchrist was elected with 9,522 votes. District 4: Roscoe O. Roberts was elected with 9,541 votes. District 5: Clayton Carter was elected with 6,875 votes. 8 other votes were cast. District 6: George Hawkins was elected with 9,877 votes. other votes were cast. District 7: A. C. Shelton was elected with 6,500 votes. 1 other vote was cast. District 8: Bill Nichols was elected with 5,370 votes. 1 other vote was cast. District 9: Julian Lowe was elected with 4,335 votes. District 10: Sonny Hornsby was elected with 5,250 votes. District 11: Bill McCain was elected with 7,905 votes. District 12: Bob Wilson was elected with 8,574 votes. District 13: Larry Dumas was elected with 60,968 votes. District 14: Gaillard Robison was elected with 2,574 votes. District 16: Roland Cooper was elected with 2,905 votes. District 18: H. P. James was elected with 3,084 votes. District 19: Albert H. Evans was elected with 3,779 votes. 7 other votes were cast. District 20: E. O. Eddins was elected with 2,712 votes. 2 other votes were cast. District 21: L. W. Brannon was elected with 8,529 votes. 1 other vote was cast. District 22: L. D. Bentley was elected with 5,695 votes. District 23: Neil Metcalf was elected with 3,827 votes. District 24: Jimmy Clark was elected with 3,906 votes. District 25: W. Ray Lolley was elected with 5,317 votes. District 26: Ed Reynolds was elected with 3,185 votes. District 27: Joseph W. Smith was elected with 3,610 votes. 1 other vote was cast. District 29: Kenneth Hammond was elected with 7,470 votes. District 30: Walter C. Givhan was elected with 4,599 votes. District 31: W. Emmett Oden was elected with 10,569 votes. District 32: Charles A. Montgomery was elected with 2,294 votes. 1 other vote was cast. District 34: Pete Matthews was elected with 2,836 votes. 2 other votes were cast. District 35: Charlie Adams was elected with 4,920 votes. 1 other vote was cast.
Special Democratic primary elections District 22 The first round of the special Democratic primary saw representative Rush "Doc" Smith beat out Roy H. Coshatt for the second-place spot in the runoff by a single vote. After the results were made official, Coshatt decided to contest the election results. His case was thrown out by the state Democratic executive committee, allowing Smith to advance to the September runoff. Smith lost the runoff by 442 votes to radio executive L. D. Bentley.
District 30 In the regular Senate primary in Lowndes County, the results were thrown out by the state Democratic executive committee amid allegations of voting irregularies. The official tally had Caswell McCurdy ahead of incumbent senator Carl Golson 936–934. The July redistricting plan saw the Dallas County and Lowndes County senate districts combine, and thus the winner of the Lowndes primary would face off against senator Walter C. Givhan, the winner of the Dallas primary, in August. Both McCurdy and Golson withdrew their claims to the Lowndes nomination, allowing Givhan to advance to the general election.
Democratic primary results
Runoff results by district Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk (*) denotes a runoff winner who trailed in the first round.
District Winner Loser Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Votes 5th Clayton Carter 12,128 59.60% Clark E. Johnson 8,222 40.40% 20,350 +3,906 +19.19% 11th Bill McCain* 9,165 52.89% Arthur Ferguson 8,162 47.11% 17,327 +1,003 +5.79% 12th Bob Wilson 12,280 53.03% W. C. Walker 10,876 46.97% 23,156 +1,404 +6.06% 14th Gaillard Robison 3,590 56.38% Henry McDaniel 2,778 43.62% 6,368 +812 +12.75% 21st L. W. Brannan 10,568 51.77% W. M. Hodgson 9,845 48.23% 20,413 +723 +3.54% 34th Pete Mathews 6,363 58.47% DeForest Nolen 4,519 41.53% 10,882 +1,844 +16.95% Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1963 (p. 759) Additionally, runoffs in District 32 and District 33 were planned, but were canceled after candidates withdrew from their races. Both withdrawals were from candidates who placed second in the first round. District 32: Charles Montgomery won the Democratic nomination after S. D. Bayer withdrew. District 33: John M. Tyson won the Democratic nomination after Thomas M. Galloway withdrew.
First round results by district Candidates in boldface advanced to either the general election or a runoff, first-place winners with an asterisk (*) did not face a runoff.