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. Early life Rubel Lex Phillips was born on March 29, 1925 in Alcorn County, Mississippi, United States to William T. Phillips and Ollie Fare Phillips. He had four brothers, including future writer Thomas Hal Phillips. The family grew up poor, and in the 1940s they moved to Kossuth. Rubel Phillips graduated from Alcorn Agricultural High School in 1943 and enlisted in the United States Navy. He served for four years, including duty in the Pacific Theater of World War II, and retained an officer's commission in the force until he completely retired from the navy with the rank of commander in 1963. He graduated from Millsaps College and the University of Mississippi School of Law. In 1955, he married Margaret James in Drew and subsequently had two sons with her. Political career Early career Hailing from a politically active family and initially a member of the Democratic Party, Phillips was elected circuit court clerk for Alcorn County, serving from 1952 until 1956. He was elected to the Mississippi Public