January 21, 1928

Virginia Johnson, the first woman to run for the office of governor of Arkansas, was born in Conway (Faulkner County). Running as a conservative Democrat, Johnson campaigned against six other Democrats, all male, vying to run against the Republican incumbent, Winthrop Rockefeller, in the gubernatorial race of 1968. Johnson lost the Democratic nomination to Marion Crank, who captured sixty-four percent of the vote, with turnout reported as light. Johnson vowed to help Crank unseat the governor but later withdrew her support. Rockefeller was reelected. Johnson was often asked why a woman would make a good governor, and Johnson always replied, “Why not?” One local reporter noted that she was “the only novelty in a rather dull campaign.”