A presidential primary was held in the U.S. state of Alabama on May 4, 1976, with runoff elections on May 25 to elect delegates representing Alabama to the 1976 Democratic National Convention. In order to choose the state's thirty-five delegates, the state was divided up into twenty-seven delegate districts based on state house lines. Delegate districts were made up by grouping together three to five state house districts, based on their voting strength for national Democratic presidential nominees in 1968 and 1972, with weaker districts containing more House districts. The remaining eight delegates were hand-picked by the state Executive Democratic Committee in proportion to the winner's share of the popular vote. Governor of Alabama George Wallace won a large majority of the state's delegates.
In the first round of the primary, nineteen were elected outright, seventeen pledged to Governor George Wallace and two uncommitted, both of whom were Black state legislators. In the runoff, Wallace picked up four more delegates, two more uncommitted delegates were nominated, and Governor of Georgia and eventual nominee Jimmy Carter won his only two district delegates. In response to the primary results, the Committee was set to choose six Wallace delegates, one uncommitted delegate, and one Carter delegate at a convention. Wowever, Wallace withdrew from the race and threw his support behind Carter before the Committee could convene.
Results + Alabama Democratic presidential primary, 1976 Candidate Delegates Pl. Unpl. Total George Wallace 21 6 27 Uncommitted 4 1 5 Jimmy Carter 2 1 3 Frank Church 0 0 0 Fred R. Harris 0 0 0 Hubert Humphrey 0 0 0 Mo Udall 0 0 0 First round winners by district District Elected delegate Pledged to 1st James Hunt Wallace 5th Sen. Robert T. Wilson Wallace 6th Sen. Bingham Edwards Wallace 7th Rep. Kerry Rich Wallace 8th Rep. Ed Robertson Wallace 10th Rep. Tony Harrison Uncommitted 11th Rep. Jack Biddle Wallace 14th James M. Campbell Wallace 15th John Hollis Jackson Jr. Wallace 16th Rep. Larry Morris Wallace 17th Rep. Rick Manley Wallace 18th Earl Goodwin Wallace 20th Charles M. Crook Wallace 22nd Joe McCorquodale III Wallace 23rd Wallace Miller Wallace 24th Mrs. S. A. Cherry Wallace 25th Rep. Tommy Sandusky Wallace 26th Rep. Cain Kennedy Uncommitted 27th Mrs. L. W. Noonan Wallace Source: The Birmingham Post-Herald
Runoff results by district
District George Wallace Jimmy Carter Uncommitted Total Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % 2nd Mrs. Albert McDonald 12,265 56.52% Timothy W. Hudson 9,435 43.48% — — — 21,700 3rd Rep. Hartwell Lutz 8,963 47.14% Charles Cummings Jr. 10,051 52.86% — — — 19,014 4th George M. Barnett 9,846 54.25% Carol G. Richards 8,302 45.75% — — — 18,148 9th Joni Meeks 5,535 50.58% Charles J. McClees 5,407 49.42% — — — 10,942 12th — — — Rep. Ron Jackson 3,829 48.46% Sen. J. Richmond Pearson 4,073 51.54% 7,902 13th Rep. Bob Gafford 5,154 66.44% Mark Polson 2,603 33.56% — — — 7,757 19th — — — Herman Harris 4,086 51.58% Rep. Alvin Holmes 3,835 48.42% 7,921 21st Sen. Dudley Perry 7,551 47.04% — — — Rep. Thomas Reed 8,503 52.96% 16,054 Source: Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1979 (p. 239–241)
See also
1976 Democratic Party presidential primaries 1976 United States presidential election 1976 United States presidential election in Alabama 1976 United States elections References