Incumbent governor David P. Lewis was a former Democrat who represented
Lawrence County at the
state secession convention in the prelude to the
American Civil War, voting against secession but eventually serving as a legislator in the
Provisional Confederate Congress; he would go on to be a delegate at the
1868 Democratic National Convention for Alabama before his joining the Republicans. Having been an advocate for the re-enfranchisement of
scalawags who had served with the Confederacy The Democrats presented themselves as "
redeemers" who would restore White dominance and eliminate Republican corruption.
Election day massacre One notable incident of electoral violence took place on election day near
Eufaula in
Barbour County before moving to
Spring Hill, where ballots were then being counted; a similar incident took place in
Mobile County. In both cases many of the Black voters fled, and the Democrats won the counties.
Results The beginning of Democratic dominance in the state also led to the loss of the rights that had been gained by the
Black population, and the beginning of
segregation in the state. Soon after the election, the state would pass a new constitution which mandated the effective racial separation of schools, By the 1880s, however, perceived threats to Democratic dominance from the ascendant
Populists led to a repeat of the terror and fraud like those against Republicans in prior years, only this time the target was Black and poor White citizens; further laws were passed to enforce segregation and white dominance, including stricter vagrancy and work contract laws. ==Notes==