The dominance of George Wallace -- Wallace's final exit -- The Wallace legacy -- The 1986 primary election -- Runoff -- Challenge -- Democratic aftermath -- The general election -- Consequences -- Explanations -- Appendix A: Survey methodology -- Appendix B: Election results
Summary
All Alabama elections are colorful, but the 1986 gubernatorial contest may trump them all for its sheer strangeness. With the retirement of an aging and ill George Wallace, both the issues and candidates contending for the office were able to set the course of Alabama politics for generations to follow. Whereas the Wallace regimes were particular to Alabama, and the gubernatorial campaign was conducted in a partial vacuum with his absence, Alabama also experienced a wave of partisan realignment. A once solidly Democratic South was undergoing a tectonic political shift as white voters in l
