The 1979 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1979, in order to elect the Governor of Mississippi. Incumbent Democrat Cliff Finch was term-limited, and could not run for reelection to a second term. As of 2020, this was the most recent election in which a Democrat won over 60 percent of the statewide vote in a gubernatorial election in the state.

William Forrest Winter was an American attorney and politician who served as 58th governor of Mississippi from 1980 to 1984. A member of the Democratic Party, he also served as the lieutenant governor, state treasurer, state tax collector, and in the Mississippi House of Representatives.