Rubel Phillips

Rubel Phillips
Phillips in 1957
Member of the Mississippi Public Service Commission from the Northern District
In office January 16, 1956 – January 1, 1958
Preceded by	Howard H. Little
Succeeded by	Thomas Hal Phillips
Personal details
Born	(1925-03-29)March 29, 1925 Alcorn County, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	June 18, 2011(2011-06-18) (aged 86) Ridgeland, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party	Democratic (until 1962) Republican (from 1962)
Spouse	Margaret James ​ (m. 1955)​
Relations	Thomas Hal Phillips (brother)
Children	2
Military service
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1943–1963
Rank	Commander

Rubel Lex Phillips (March 29, 1925 – June 18, 2011) was an American politician and lawyer. He grew up poor in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law. Hailing from a politically active family and initially a member of the Democratic Party, he served as a circuit court clerk from 1952 to 1956 and chaired the Mississippi Public Service Commission from 1956 to 1958. In 1962 Phillips joined the Republican Party. He ran as a Republican in the 1963 Mississippi gubernatorial election, the first person to do so since 1947. Supporting a platform of racial segregation and opposition to the presidential administration of John F. Kennedy, he lost, garnering only 38 percent of the vote.

Phillips ran as a Republican a second time during the 1967 Mississippi gubernatorial election with a more racially moderate approach, losing after getting only 30 percent of the vote. He never ran for office again but continued to fundraise for Republican candidates throughout the rest of his life. He thereafter became an executive at the Stirling Homex Corporation, but was incarcerated and disbarred after becoming involved in a scheme to inflate profit figures to investors and regulators. Reinstated to the bar in 1982, he resumed legal practice and worked as a consultant and counsel for a telephone company. He died at an assisted living facility in Ridgeland, Mississippi, in 2011.