Wayne Dowdy

Wayne Dowdy
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 4th district
In office July 7, 1981 – January 3, 1989
Preceded by	Jon Hinson
Succeeded by	Mike Parker
Personal details
Born	(1943-07-27) July 27, 1943 Fitzgerald, Georgia
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Susan Dowdy
Religion	Methodist

Charles Wayne Dowdy (born July 27, 1943) is a politician and lawyer from Mississippi. He served four terms in the United States House of Representatives and served as chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party.

Early life

Dowdy was born in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Georgia. He grew up in the Methodist Church and is a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi.

Dowdy set up a practice in Mississippi and purchased two local radio stations. He entered politics and was elected as mayor of McComb, Mississippi, serving from 1978 to 1981.

Political career

On July 7, 1981, Dowdy was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat in a special election for the 4th District. In this election the Democrats recaptured a Southern district from the Republicans, in a period when the white electorate in the South was shifting to the Republican Party. Dowdy carefully managed to avoid drawing strong Republican challengers in the general election or African-American opponents in the Democratic primary.

He won re-election narrowly in 1982 and 1984, with 53 percent and 55 percent of the vote, before being re-elected with 72 percent of the vote in the 1986 elections. He was notable for being a rather progressive Democrat in a district with a 37 percent African-American population; in 1982 he voted for renewal of the Voting Rights Act.

In 1988, when John Stennis retired from the Senate, Dowdy won the Democratic nomination. His opponent was Republican Congressman Trent Lott. Dowdy was unable to implement his rural strategy. With George H. W. Bush carrying Mississippi 59 percent-39 percent, Lott rode his coattails and defeated Dowdy by a 54 percent-45 percent margin.

Dowdy attempted to stage a comeback against Governor Ray Mabus in the 1991 Democratic gubernatorial primary, but lost with 41 percent of the vote.

Personal life

Dowdy and his wife, Susan, have three children. His wife is from Grenada, Mississippi.

He practices law in Magnolia, Mississippi. His family owns several radio stations in Mississippi and Louisiana. He is a former staff announcer for television station WJTV-TV in Jackson, Mississippi.

External links

• United States Congress. "Wayne Dowdy (id: D000466)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 
• Peter Applebome (September 16, 1991). "Mississippi Governor's Record at Issue". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-12-29. 
• Donna Ladd (July 29, 2004). "Bold New Party? New Dem Head Wayne Dowdy on Faux Elephants and Young Voters". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 2009-01-29.