Consequently, when segregationist former and future Alabama Governor George Wallace announced in early 1968 that he would mount a third-party candidacy for the Presidency, he had a powerful base in the Deep South.

[13] William Winter, the losing candidate for Governor the previous year, did support Democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey, but knew that it would be too risky to actively campaign for him.

[14] By August, it was widely accepted that Wallace would carry Mississippi by a large margin,[15] as apart from a small number of wealthy urban communities he had captured a virtual monopoly of the state's white electorate.

Humphrey improved upon the support gained by Johnson, but this was entirely due to the huge increases in black voter registration – exit polls and later analysis suggest the national Democratic nominee received less than 3 percent of the white vote.

[30] In fact, so marked was the reversal of voting patterns from the previous five presidential elections that Humphrey did worst in the counties where Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Adlai Stevenson II and Harry S. Truman had run best.