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In 1963, the Mississippi Republican Party offered candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, [[Rubel Phillips]], a former Democratic member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and state Senator [[Stanford Morse]] of Harrison County, who challenged Carroll Gartin (1913-1966). Neither Phillips nor Morse reached 40 percent of the vote in the [[general election]], but they paved the way for later Republican candidates who in time won the majority of statewide offices in Mississippi.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," pp. 242-243.</ref>​

In 1963, the Mississippi Republican Party offered candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, [[Rubel Phillips]], a former Democratic member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission, and state Senator [[Stanford Morse]] of Harrison County, who challenged Carroll Gartin (1913-1966). Neither Phillips nor Morse reached 40 percent of the vote in the [[general election]], but they paved the way for later Republican candidates who in time won the majority of statewide offices in Mississippi.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," pp. 242-243.</ref>​

In the Phillips-Morse campaign, Yerger was frequently ridiculed as "Squirt" Yerger by the Democratic State Chairman [[Bidwell Adam]], a lawyer from Gulfport who served as lieutenant governor himself rom 1928 to 1932 during the administration of staunch segregationist Theodore Gilmore Bilbo (1877-1947) Adam and outgoing Governor Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) employed harsh anti-Republican rhetoric in their determined support for the Democrat Paul Johnson. The pair accused Phillips of being a "turncoat" and then questioned Phillips loyalty to the GOP. Johnson called his rival Phillips "a [[Adlai Stevenson]] liberal in Republican outer-garments."<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 244.</ref> Adam accused Phillips and Morse of omitting the word "Republican" from campaign literature in a ploy to confuse voters.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 245.</ref>​

In the Phillips-Morse campaign, Yerger was frequently ridiculed as "Squirt" Yerger by the Democratic State Chairman [[Bidwell Adam]], a lawyer from Gulfport who served as lieutenant governor himself rom 1928 to 1932 during the administration of staunch segregationist [[Theodore Gilmore Bilbo]] (1877-1947) Adam and outgoing Governor Ross Robert Barnett (1898-1987) employed harsh anti-Republican rhetoric in their determined support for the Democrat Paul Johnson. The pair accused Phillips of being a "turncoat" and then questioned Phillips loyalty to the GOP. Johnson called his rival Phillips "a [[Adlai Stevenson]] liberal in Republican outer-garments."<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 244.</ref> Adam accused Phillips and Morse of omitting the word "Republican" from campaign literature in a ploy to confuse voters.<ref>"Challenging the Status Quo," p. 245.</ref>​

An advertisement in the former ''Jackson Daily News,'' now  ''The Clarion-Ledger,'' linked the Mississippi white Republicans with unpopular scalawags from the era of [[Reconstruction]], a term that Yerger found offensive, as he is a great-grandson of a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army officer.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>​

An advertisement in the former ''Jackson Daily News,'' now  ''The Clarion-Ledger,'' linked the Mississippi white Republicans with unpopular scalawags from the era of [[Reconstruction]], a term that Yerger found offensive, as he is a great-grandson of a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] Army officer.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>​