Lewis McAllister

Lewis Leslie "Mack" McAllister, Jr. (born September 25, 1932), is an American politician. He was a Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, representing Lauderdale County, from 1963 to 1968. He was the first Republican in the Mississippi Legislature in 43 years.

Biography Lewis Leslie McAllister, Jr., was born on September 25, 1932, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was a certified public accountant working in Meridian, Mississippi. His father was a former Democratic Meridian councilman.

In 1960, McAllister was appointed the Lauderdale County campaign manager for the Republican party and engaged in local programming to build GOP support in the area; he later became vice chairman of the county organization. As chairman, he encouraged conservative Democrats to join the organization.

In January 1963, he announced his candidacy as a Republican in a special election to represent Lauderdale County in the Mississippi House of Representatives to replace resigning representative Natie Caraway. and proceeded to a runoff election, where he was elected with 57% of the vote. McCallister attributed his victory to not because of his party identification but to the "hatred of the Kennedys." He was re-elected to serve the 1964–1968 term. He ultimately lost to Democrat Sonny Montgomery, a major general and businessman, with about 38% of the vote.