1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election

1947 Mississippi Democratic gubernatorial primary

← 1943 November 4, 1947 1951 →
 
Candidate Fielding L. Wright Paul B. Johnson Jr. Jesse M. Byrd
Party Democratic Democratic Democratic
Popular vote 182,771 112,123 37,997
Percentage 51.71% 30.70% 10.40%

Wright:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      100%
Johnson:      40–50%      50–60%
Byrd:      40–50%

Governor before election

Fielding L. Wright
Democratic

Elected Governor

Fielding L. Wright
Democratic

The 1947 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1947, to elect the governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Fielding L. Wright, who had succeeded to the governorship a year prior following the death of Thomas L. Bailey, ran for election to a first full term.

As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate won in a landslide, so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election. In fact, this was the first election since 1881 in which the Republican Party even fielded a nominal candidate, former Governor of Nebraska George L. Sheldon, and the first since 1919 in which any opposition party did.