Joe Edward Purcell (July 29, 1923 – March 5, 1987) was an American politician and attorney who served as Acting

Governor of Arkansas The governor of Arkansas is the head of government of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Governor (United States), governor is the head of the Executive (government), executive branch of the Politics and government of Arkansas, Arkansas government a ...

for six days in 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 45th

Attorney General of Arkansas The attorney general of Arkansas, usually known simply as the attorney general (AG), is one of Arkansas's seven State constitutional officer, constitutional officers. The officeholder serves as the state's top law enforcement officer and Consu ...

from 1967 to 1971 and the 13th

Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas The lieutenant governor of Arkansas is the second-highest constitutional and elected office in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The lieutenant governor is the first in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Arkansas, gubernatorial ...

from 1975 to 1981. In 1974, Purcell was elected to the lieutenant governorship; he handily defeated Republican Leona Troxell of Rose Bud in White County, a former associate of the late Governor

Winthrop Rockefeller Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 – February 22, 1973) was an American politician and philanthropist. Rockefeller was the fourth son and fifth child of American financier John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. He was one of th ...

. He was reelected as Arkansas Lieutenant Governor in 1976 and 1978 under

David Pryor David Hampton Pryor (August 29, 1934 – April 20, 2024) was an American politician who served as a representative for Arkansas's 4th congressional district from 1966 until 1973 and as a senator from Arkansas from 1979 until 1997. A member of t ...

and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

. He served as Acting Arkansas Governor for six days in 1979, having filled the unexpired term of Pryor, who had been elected to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. Purcell was twice a candidate for the governorship. In 1970, he was considered the leading challenger to former governor

Orval Faubus Orval Eugene Faubus ( ; January 7, 1910 – December 14, 1994) was an American politician who served as the List of governors of Arkansas, 36th Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...

and ran second to Faubus throughout the primary race, but was edged out of a runoff berth by less than 500 votes by Charleston attorney

Dale Bumpers Dale Leon Bumpers (August 12, 1925 – January 1, 2016) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 38th Governor of Arkansas (1971–1975) and in the United States Senate (1975–1999). He was a member of the Democratic Party. He w ...

, who went on to defeat Faubus and then Republican Governor Winthrop Rockefeller in the general election. Purcell was Bumpers' choice to chair the Arkansas Democratic Party, a position which he held from 1970 to 1973. His chief task as party chair was to purge followers of presidential candidate

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

and former gubernatorial nominee

James D. Johnson James Douglas Johnson (August 20, 1924 – February 13, 2010), known as "Justice Jim" Johnson, was an Arkansas legislator and jurist known for outspoken support of racial segregation during the mid-20th century. He served as an associate justi ...

from the party ranks and to limit the influence of the Faubus-era "Old Guard" faction. He entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1982 and surprisingly edged out former congressman

Jim Guy Tucker James Guy Tucker Jr. (June 13, 1943 – February 13, 2025) was an American politician, businessman and attorney who served as the 43rd governor of Arkansas from 1992 until his resignation in 1996 after his conviction for fraud during the White ...

for a runoff berth with former governor Bill Clinton. Purcell lost the Democratic nomination to Clinton in a runoff, 46 to 54 percent.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purcell, Joe 1923 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Acting governors of Arkansas Arkansas attorneys general Arkansas Democrats Arkansas lawyers Democratic Party governors of Arkansas Lieutenant governors of Arkansas People from Benton, Arkansas People from Bradley County, Arkansas University of Arkansas people University of Arkansas School of Law alumni 20th-century Arkansas politicians