Changes

In 1979, Bramlett, a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], sought the Republican nomination for governor but lost in the low-turnout [[primary]] election to  [[Gil Carmichael]], a businessman from Meridian,  17,216 votes (53 percent) to 15,236 (47 percent).<ref name=campaigns>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=8571|title=Leon Bramlett|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Carmichael had been the 1975 nominee against Democrat Charles Clifton "Cliff" Finch (1927-1986) and had also carried the [[Republican Party|GOP]] banner against [[U.S. Senator]] [[James Eastland]] in 1972 and the Republican-turned-[[Independent voter|Independent]] Prentiss Lafayette Walker (1917-1998), a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1965 to 1967.

In 1979, Bramlett, a former [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], sought the Republican nomination for governor but lost in the low-turnout [[primary]] election to  [[Gil Carmichael]], a businessman from Meridian,  17,216 votes (53 percent) to 15,236 (47 percent).<ref name=campaigns>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=8571|title=Leon Bramlett|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=September 3, 2020}}</ref> Carmichael had been the 1975 nominee against Democrat Charles Clifton "Cliff" Finch (1927-1986) and had also carried the [[Republican Party|GOP]] banner against [[U.S. Senator]] [[James Eastland]] in 1972 and the Republican-turned-[[Independent voter|Independent]] Prentiss Lafayette Walker (1917-1998), a one-term member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1965 to 1967.

In 1983, Bramlett won the gubernatorial primary and faced the Democrat William Alexander "Bill"  Allain (1928-2013), a popular state attorney general known for his fight against utility rate hikes and his opposition to the storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi. In the campaign, the private detective Rex Armistead (1930-2013), formerly with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, helped to spread rumors that Allain had [[sexual intercourse]] with two [[African-American]] male [[transvestite]]s.<ref name="Howard2">John Howard, ''Men Like That: A Southern Queer History,'' ( Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 281–297</ref><ref name="Time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926319-3,00.html|title=Elections '83; A Winning Round"|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''|accessdate=May 6, 2014; material no longer accessible on-line}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZ903C-dkMC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=%22william+allain%22+gay&source=bl&ots=ISXBGprjeF&sig=nE1rqGnui1yUI7p_V-6Yb_4RolY&hl=en&ei=U42US7mzL4uWtgeCt9HUCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=&f=false|title=Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence|author=Warren Johansson and William A. Percy|publisher=Routledge|date=1994, page=156}}</ref>

In 1983, Bramlett won the gubernatorial primary and faced the Democrat William Alexander "Bill"  Allain (1928-2013), a popular state attorney general known for his fight against utility rate hikes and his opposition to the storage of nuclear waste in Mississippi. In the campaign, the private detective Rex Armistead (1930-2013), formerly with the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, helped to spread rumors that Allain had [[sexual intercourse]] with two [[African-American]] male [[transvestite]]s.<ref name="Howard2">John Howard, ''Men Like That: A Southern Queer History,'' ( Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 281–297</ref><ref name="Time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926319-3,00.html|title=Elections '83; A Winning Round"|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''|accessdate=May 6, 2014; material no longer accessible on-line}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lZ903C-dkMC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=%22william+allain%22+gay&source=bl&ots=ISXBGprjeF&sig=nE1rqGnui1yUI7p_V-6Yb_4RolY&hl=en&ei=U42US7mzL4uWtgeCt9HUCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=&f=false|title=Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence|author=Warren Johansson and William A. Percy|publisher=Routledge|date=1994|page=156}}</ref>

Allain denied the claims,<ref name="Time"/> the tranvestites took a lie detector test, but in 1984, after the gubernatorial election had been held, they claimed that they had never met Allain and had not been paid for their testimony.<ref name="Howard2"/><ref name="rockhill">{{cite web|publisher=''The Rock Hill Herald''|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3S0tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Gb0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2384,1323234&dq=bill-allain&hl=en |title=Transvestites withdraw allegations}}</ref> 

Allain denied the claims,<ref name="Time"/> the tranvestites took a lie detector test, but in 1984, after the gubernatorial election had been held, they claimed that they had never met Allain and had not been paid for their testimony.<ref name="Howard2"/>

Bramlett lost the [[general election]], 288,764 (38.9 percent) to Allain's 409,209 (55.1 percent). James Charles Evers (1922-2020), the African American [[civil rights]] activist from Fayette and the brother of slain [[Medgar Evers]] (1925-1963), ran as an Independent and polled 30,593 (votes 4.1 percent).<ref name=campaigns/> Carmichael ran in 1983 for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Democrat Bradford Johnson "Brad" Dye, Jr. (1933-2018), who prevailed with 464,080 votes (64.3 percent) to Carmichael's 257,623 (35.7 percent). Bramlett hence outpolled Carmichael by just over 31,000 votes when both were on the ballot as ticket mates.<ref name=campaigns/>

Bramlett lost the [[general election]], 288,764 (38.9 percent) to Allain's 409,209 (55.1 percent). James Charles Evers (1922-2020), the African American [[civil rights]] activist from Fayette and the brother of slain [[Medgar Evers]] (1925-1963), ran as an Independent and polled 30,593 (votes 4.1 percent).<ref name=campaigns/> Carmichael ran in 1983 for lieutenant governor against the incumbent Democrat Bradford Johnson "Brad" Dye, Jr. (1933-2018), who prevailed with 464,080 votes (64.3 percent) to Carmichael's 257,623 (35.7 percent). Bramlett hence outpolled Carmichael by just over 31,000 votes when both were on the ballot as ticket mates.<ref name=campaigns/>