Ray Mabus

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Ray Mabus
60^rd Governor of Mississippi
In office January, 1988 – January, 1992
Lieutenant(s)	Brad Dye
Preceded by	Bill Allain
Succeeded by	Kirk Fordice

Born	October 11, 1947
Political party	Democratic

Raymond Edwin "Ray" Mabus, Jr. (born October 11, 1948) served as Governor of the U.S. state of Mississippi from 1988 to 1992 as a Democrat, but was defeated for reelection by Republican Kirk Fordice.

Mabus grew up in Ackerman, Mississippi, the only child of a prominent timber executive. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, and after a stint in the military, entered Harvard Law School. After working for several years in Washington, D.C., Mabus returned to Mississippi, joining the staff of Governor William Winter. Winter's youthful staff, which included Mabus, Dick Molpus, John Henegan, and Andy Mullins, earned the nickname "Boys of Spring" by a rival state legislator.

In 1983, Mabus was elected state auditor and served from 1984 to 1988. Mabus narrowly defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the 1987 governor election. The youthful, Harvard-educated Mabus was billed as "the face of The New South", much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. In winter 1988, Mabus was featured in a New York Times Magazine story that covered his challenges and successes, "The Yuppies of Mississippi" Sunday, February 28, 1988.

Mabus had a troubled tenure as governor, failing in a bid to enact a state lottery and garnering significant opposition for raising the sales tax one percent to fund education, while alienating long-time activists within his own political party. Some have attributed Mabus's difficulties as governor to his personality, however the controversy created by his politics cannot permit a fully fair assessment of him aside from the polarizing force he was politically.

Mabus narrowly won his 1991 nominating primary on the first ballot by less than 1% to two under-funded but popular challengers. A nonserious candidate named George "Wagon Wheel" Blair garnered 8% of the vote on the first ballot of the Democratic primary, which, coupled with challenger Wayne Dowdy's 41%, nearly forced Mabus into a primary runoff. Unable to close ranks within his own party, Mabus lost narrowly to Republican businessman Kirk Fordice in the general election.

Mabus was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia and served from 1994 to 1996. He is likely to run for governor again in 2007.

Mabus became Chairman and CEO of Foamex International in 2006. He was previously a Director of Foamex, having been appointed to the post by Marshall Cogan at the suggestion of Senator Ted Kennedy.