[EL] an example of an election overturned

[J Morgan Kousser]

   In Nashville in 1962, State Senator Richard Fulton challenged 
incumbent Congressman J. Carlton Loser (pronounced LOHser) in the 
Democratic primary, winning on election day, but losing when a 
suspicious number of absentee ballots were counted from a 
machine-controlled ward run by Gene ("Little Evil") Jacobs.  An 
investigation by the /Nashville Tennessean/ newspaper found that Jacobs 
had stuffed the ballot box in support of Loser, and a subsequent lawsuit 
overturned the election results and ordered a rerun of the election, 
which Fulton won handily, boosting a long career in which Fulton was 
twice elected mayor.  He was one of two congressmen from Middle 
Tennessee to support the 1964 Civil Rights Act, a courageous act that 
opponents unsuccessfully sought to use against him in subsequent 
political campaigns.  Without the local political celebrity that 
overcoming fraud lent to his name, he might have become a country 
songwriter.  See, e.g., https://peoplepill.com/people/richard-fulton/.

-- 
Prof. of History and Social Science, Emeritus
1818 Craig Ave.
Altadena, CA 91001-3430

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