Aycock and then Mayor W. George Bowdon, Jr., of Alexandria led the primary field in December 1959 and went into a January 1960 runoff. Losing candidates included sitting Governor Earl Long, who was actually waging his third campaign (the last two unsuccessful) for lieutenant governor, and Mayor William J. "Bill" White (December 25, 1910 – December 12, 1990) of Gretna in Jefferson Parish, a ticket-mate of State Auditor William J. "Bill" Dodd, then of Baton Rouge. Ernest J. Wright, a labor organizer from New Orleans, was the first African-American candidate for lieutenant governor in the 1963 primary, the first member of his race to seek the office since the era of Reconstruction. Aycock was in the second round of balloting Jimmie Davis' choice for lieutenant governor; his intraparty rival, George Bowdon, was endorsed from the start by the losing runoff candidate, Mayor deLesseps Story Morrison of New Orleans.