Brad Dye

Bradford Johnson Dye Jr. (December 20, 1933 – July 1, 2018) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1980 until 1992.

Dye was the only individual in state history to have served as lieutenant governor for 12 consecutive years.

Bradford Johnson Dye Jr. was born on December 20, 1933, in Charleston, Mississippi to Braford Johnson Dye and Maylise Dorgan Dye.

His father was a state legislator.

He began his political career in 1950 as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives for Jamie Whitten.

He also worked as a driver for James Eastland during one of his U.S. Senate campaigns.

He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1957 from the University of Mississippi and a law degree in 1959 from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

He married Donna Bess Bailey and had three children with her.

Dye was a conservative and a member of the Democratic Party.

He won election to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1959, serving in that capacity from 1960 until 1964.

He was a segregationist in the 1960s and in 1967 served as gubernatorial candidate John Bell Williams' campaign manager.

From 1961 to 1964 he worked as an attorney for the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, resigning to become a commissioner to the Workman's Compensation Commission.

He served in the Mississippi State Senate from 1964 to 1968.

He directed the Mississippi Agricultural and Industrial Board from 1968 to 1971.

Dye served as Mississippi State Treasurer from 1972 to 1976.

In 1975 he ran for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi.

He entered a runoff in the Democratic primary with Evelyn Gandy and lost.

He was president of Jackson Savings and Loan Association from 1976 to 1979.

Dye was elected lieutenant governor in 1979.

By then, he decided to "make his peace with integration, hiring African Americans onto his staff as lieutenant governor."

He was sworn in on January 16, 1980.

In office he had the power to appoint members to Senate committees.

Unlike his predecessors, he was keen to place senators of certain political persuasions on committees in such a fashion as to advance his own legislative agenda.

He also convinced the Senate to let him chair the body's Rules Committee.

In December 1982 Governor William F. Winter called the legislature into special session to consider the adoption of an expansive education reform program.

Dye was not initially a strong supporter of the bill, but decided that the Senate should approve the measure—including the creation of public kindergartens—after the House approved it.

He feared that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ellis B. Bodron would block the bill's passage.

The night the reform legislation passed the House, Dye called Bodron and told him, "Ellis, what you do with your politics is fine, but in running your mouth, you've hurt my politics. I want you to add some Senate things to the House bill."

When Bodron asked for clarification, Dye told him "I want a commitment out of you right now—that this bill is going to come out of Finance Committee and you'll support it. If you're not, this is going to be the first time the Education Committee has ever raised taxes in this state."

Bodron acquiesced to Dye's request, and the reform bill was ultimately passed into law.

Dye remained generally supportive of education reform but was accused by journalists of blocking other reform legislation.

In 1983, Dye won his second term as lieutenant governor by defeating Republican Gil Carmichael, an auto dealer from Meridian who ran as an independent.

In 1986 a commission studying the state's constitution affirmed Dye's perspective on the powers of the lieutenant governor's office.

In 1987, Dye won re-election to a third consecutive four-year term in office.

In 1991 Dye was challenged in the Democratic primary by state senator Ken Harper, accused him of creating "gridlock" over reform legislation affecting ballot initiatives, referendums, and limits on lobbying.

Dye shortly thereafter declared his support for these reforms in a speech at the Neshoba County Fair, but this action was viewed as opportunistic by many voters.

In televisions attack ads, Harper criticized Dye for using $850 of public funds to acquire a new office chair while supporting a tax hike.

Dye countered by accusing Harper of improperly using his office for private gain by performing legal services for three state bodies.

While his opponent garnered the support of labor unions and the state teacher association, Dye was narrowly re-nominated, earning 51.5 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary.

In the general election Dye faced Republican state senator Eddie Briggs, a former Democrat who faced no primary challenge, and black independent Henry J. Kirksey.