Although major national civil rights legislation was passed by Congress in 1964 and 1965, Winter ran for the Democratic nomination for governor in 1967 as a segregationist. He said he wanted to focus on "bread-and-butter issues, not the old emotional ones—not racial issues." He lost the bitterly contested race to John Bell Williams in the runoff for the primary. Because most African Americans (and Republicans) in the state had been disenfranchised since the turn of the century, the primary was the important competitive election. Winter was elected and served as Lieutenant Governor from 1972 to 1976.