Election Notes

Democrat Ray Mabus was hailed as the new face of Mississippi politics when he was elected Governor in 1987 -- a 39-year-old Harvard grad who vowed to fight racism and improve his state's decrepit public schools. But with his reform package thwarted by a stubborn legislature and the state economy sliding, Mississippi voters booted Mabus out in favor of Kirk Fordice, a Vicksburg building contractor who had never before sought political office. Fordice, 57, became Mississippi's first Republican Governor since Reconstruction largely by attacking Mabus for failing to deliver on his promises. But the Republican also played the oldest card in Southern politics, the racial resentments of whites, by frequently criticizing quotas and affirmative action and calling for welfare reform.