#FlashbackFriday: Kirk Fordice elected governor

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Thirty years ago was an Election Day in Mississippi and it turned out to be historic.

Democrat Ray Mabus was the incumbent governor, and he was trying to become the first Mississippi governor to be elected to a second consecutive term.

But he got a tough challenge from Republican Kirk Fordice, a businessman from Vicksburg.

As the returns came in, the race was close but eventually, Fordice prevailed.

He became Mississippi’s first Republican governor since 1876, boosting a party that had been struggling for years to establish a real presence in the Magnolia State.

Four years later, Fordice made history again when he became the first Mississippi governor to win re-election to a second consecutive term.

Kirk Fordice elected governor of Mississippi on November 5th, 1991.

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