1966 Alabama Senate election

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. The result was a near-electoral wipeout, as 34 of the 35 candidates elected were members of the Democratic Party. The sole non-Democrat to win a seat was conservative [Alabama Alabama Republican Party|Republican Party|Republican] Leland Childs of Jefferson County. Childs was the first Republican state senator elected in decades.
The Democratic primaries were held on May 3 with runoffs on May 31, which candidates had until March 1 to qualify for. The Republican Party did not hold primaries for state office, instead opting to nominate by party convention. The Republican convention took place in Montgomery on July 30.
This was the first Alabama Senate election held after Alabama's $1.50 poll tax was ruled illegal in March 1966 and the prohibition of literacy tests by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This was also the first Senate election held after the reapportionment of 1965, which created multi-member senate districts for the first time.
On January 10, 1967, O. J. Goodwyn of Montgomery County was unanimously elected Senate president pro tempore.

Background

In September 1965, the Senate was reapportioned to have 26 districts, three of which were multi-member districts. District 12, Jefferson County, had seven seats; District 24, Mobile, three; District 21, Montgomery, two. These three counties elected senators at-large, with candidates running for designated places. Four counties received one seat each, and the remaining 19 districts were divided up into multi-county districts containing between two and five counties.
Before this election, the Alabama Senate had 35 single-member districts, based entirely on existing county lines. No county or district could have more than one member, no matter how large. This led to a massive population disparity that largely benefited rural areas of Alabama: The Jefferson County district, containing 634,864 people as of the 1960 United States census, was 20 times more populated than the smallest district, Bibb–Perry, with only 31,715 people.

Deviation

The table below will show the most-populated and least-populated senate districts under the 1962 and 1965 apportionment plans. The population of Alabama at the 1960 census was 3,266,740, with an ideal 93,335 people under a 35-district plan.

Year	District	Population	% of ideal	Diff.
1962	Jefferson	634,864	680.20%	20.01
1962	Bibb–Perry	31,715	33.98%	20.01
1965	Madison	117,348	125.73%	1.46
1965	Choctaw–Marengo–Sumter–Washington	80,381	86.12%	1.46

Incumbents

Won re-election

Only five incumbent senators were elected to the 1967–1970 legislature.

Jimmy Clark of Barbour won re-election.
Roland Cooper of Wilcox won re-election.
Walter C. Givhan of Dallas won re-election.
Ray Lolley of Coffee won re-election.
Emmett Oden of Franklin won re-election.

Eliminated in primary

L. D. Bentley of Blount lost renomination in the runoff to Aubrey Carr.
Clayton Carter of Marshall lost renomination to Aubrey Carr.
E. O. Eddins of Marengo lost renomination to William Lindsey.
Kenneth Hammond of DeKalb lost renomination in the runoff to Dan Stone.
Jimmy McDow of Autauga lost renomination in the runoff to W. G. McCarley.
B. G. Robison of Pickens lost renomination to Jimmy Branyon.
H. B. Taylor of Butler lost renomination to Alton Turner.
A. C. Shelton of Calhoun withdrew during the runoff, giving the nomination to Woodrow Albea.

Did not seek re-election

Charles Adams of Houston did not run for re-election.
Mutt Allen of Cullman did not run for re-election.
L. W. Brannan of Baldwin ran for state house.
Larry Dumas of Jefferson did not run for re-election.
Albert Evans of Choctaw did not run for re-election.
Bob Gilchrist of Morgan unsuccessfully ran for governor.
George Hawkins of Etowah did not run for re-election.
Ernest C. Hornsby of Tallapoosa did not run for re-election.
Ed Horton of Limestone did not run for re-election.
H. P. James of Bibb did not run for re-election.
Julian Lowe of Randolph did not run for re-election.
Neil Metcalf of Geneva unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor.
Bill McCain of Tuscaloosa did not run for re-election.
Charles Montgomery of Greene did not run for re-election.
Pete Mathews of Clay successfully ran for state house.
Bill Nichols of ran successfully for U.S. House from the 4th congressional district.
Ed Reynolds of Macon did not run for re-election.
Roscoe Roberts of Madison did not run for re-election.
Vaughan Hill Robison of Montgomery did not run for re-election.
Joe Smith of Russell did not run for re-election.
John M. Tyson of Mobile unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor.
Bob Wilson of Walker did not run for re-election.

General election results

Elected without opposition

Every candidate elected with no opponents was a Democrat.

District 2: Bob Harris received 17,259 votes.
District 4: Dan Stone received 16,953 votes.
District 14: Walter C. Givhan received 18,847 votes.
District 17: C. C. Torbert Jr. received 14,880 votes.
District 18: Bill Lindsey received 9,400 votes.
District 19: Roland Cooper received 14,917 votes.
District 22: Ray Lolley received 16,998 votes.
District 23: Jimmy Clark received 12,384 votes.
District 24, place 1: Myland R. Engel received 43,437 votes.

Democratic primary results

Of the 13 incumbent state senators who ran for re-election, only five received re-nomination in the Democratic primary.
One Black American ran for a senate seat, Lonnie Brown in District 19.

Runoff results by district

Candidates in boldface advanced to the general election. An asterisk denotes a runoff winner who trailed in the first round.
Additionally, runoffs in District 9 and District 22 were planned, but were canceled after candidates withdrew from their races. Both withdrawals were from candidates who placed second in the first round.

District 9: Woodrow Albea advanced after A. C. Shelton withdrew.
District 22: Ray Lolley advanced after L. L. Dozier 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.

Nominated without opposition

The following candidates automatically won the Democratic nomination, as no opponent filed to run against them.

District 12, place 1: Hugh Morrow
District 12, place 5: George L. Bailes
District 12, place 6: Eddie H. Gilmore
District 13: G. Kyser Leonard
District 17: C. C. Torbert Jr.
District 21, place 1: Junie Pierce
District 24, place 1: Mylan R. Engel
District 24, place 3: William McDermott
District 25: J. Ernest Jackson

Republican convention

The Alabama Republican Party did not nominate candidates by partisan primary, instead choosing its nominees by party convention. The state GOP convention was held on July 30, 1966 at Montgomery's Garrett Coliseum, with county and local conventions occurring earlier. The state party initially expected to nominate a full slate of candidates for all 35 seats, but did not end up doing so. The following candidates were selected:

District 1: Kenn Buttram
District 3: Wayne Robinson
District 5: Jimmy Wilson
District 6: Claude Gholston
District 7: J. D. Lay
District 8: Owen Leach
District 9: George Deyo
District 10: James Herren
District 11: Maxwell Peters
District 12, place 1: Frank Lankford
District 12, place 2: Leland Childs
District 12, place 3: Malcolm Bethea
District 12, place 4: Norman Brown
District 12, place 5: Bill Bailey
District 12, place 6: C. P. Malone
District 12, place 7: James Price
District 13: Travis McCaig
District 15: James N. Smith
District 16: J. B. Ruffin
District 20: Harold Albritten
District 21, place 1: Robert E. Varner
District 21, place 2: J. Paul Lowery
District 24, place 2: Bert Nettles
District 24, place 3: John H. Friend
District 25: Robin Swift
District 26: Edward Lisenby

Jefferson County convention

The Jefferson County Republican convention was held on June 3, 1966. A full slate of House and Senate candidates were picked to oppose Democrats.

Third party and independent candidates

The newly-formed Conservative Party of Alabama held a party convention on Saturday, July 23, 1966, at the Whitley Hotel in Montgomery, Alabama. Only one state senate candidate, Phil Holmes in Mobile County's District 24, place 3, was nominated. The party's inaugural convention saw about 100 delegates attend. He came in third in the general election with 10% of the vote.
One candidate, William "Buddy" Matthews, ran under the "Third Party for America" banner in District 26 in Houston and Dale counties. He came in second in the general election with 31% of the vote, ahead of the Republican nominee.
In the four-county 20th district, Democratic state representative Fletcher Jones filed to run as an independent candidate after failing to qualify for the Democratic primary election. He came in second in the general election with 28% of the vote, ahead of the Republican nominee.