Wayne Dowdy
| Wayne Dowdy | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's 4th district |
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In office July 7, 1981 – January 3, 1989 |
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| Preceded by | Jon Hinson |
| Succeeded by | Mike Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
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.
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.
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.
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