1928 Georgia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1928 United States gubernatorial elections.

1928 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary

←  1926 September 12, 1928 1930  →

Nominee Lamartine Griffin Hardman Eurith D. Rivers Party Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 310 104 Popular vote 137,430 97,339 Percentage 58.54% 41.46%

County results Hardman:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     >90% Rivers:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

Governor before election Lamartine Griffin Hardman Democratic Elected Governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman Democratic

The 1928 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1928, in order to elect the governor of Georgia.

Incumbent Democratic governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman was re-elected to a second term.

As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed in the general election so therefore the Democratic primary was the real contest, and winning the primary was considered tantamount to election.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary election was held on September 12, 1928. As there were only two candidates, there was no run-off.

County unit system

From 1917 until 1962, the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Georgia used a voting system called the county unit system to determine victors in statewide primary elections. ^[1]

The system was ostensibly designed to function similarly to the Electoral College, but in practice the large ratio of unit votes for small, rural counties to unit votes for more populous urban areas provided outsized political influence to the smaller counties. ^{[2] [3]}

Under the county unit system, the 159 counties in Georgia were divided by population into three categories. The largest eight counties were classified as "Urban", the next-largest 30 counties were classified as "Town", and the remaining 121 counties were classified as "Rural". Urban counties were given 6 unit votes, Town counties were given 4 unit votes, and Rural counties were given 2 unit votes, for a total of 410 available unit votes. Each county's unit votes were awarded on a winner-take-all basis. ^{[2] [3]}

Candidates were required to obtain a majority of unit votes (not necessarily a majority of the popular vote), or 206 total unit votes, to win the election. If no candidate received a majority in the initial primary, a runoff election was held between the top two candidates to determine a winner. ^[4]

Candidates

• Lamartine Griffin Hardman, incumbent governor
• Eurith D. Rivers, State Senator ^[5]

Results

Candidate	Popular vote		County unit vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Lamartine Griffin Hardman (incumbent)	137,430	58.54	310	74.88
Eurith D. Rivers	97,339	41.46	104	25.12
Total	234,769	100.00	414	100.00
Source: [6] [7] [8]

General election

In the general election, Hardman ran unopposed.

Results

1928 Georgia gubernatorial election ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Lamartine Griffin Hardman (incumbent)	202,035 [a]	100.00%
Turnout			202,035	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. "County Unit System". Georgia County Clerks Association. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
2. "Eugene Talmadge". The Jim Crow Encyclopedia. The African American Experience. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
3. "County Unit System, eh?". Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. October 6, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
4. Buchanan, Scott (June 13, 2017). "County Unit System". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
5. "Georgia primary gives Smith edge". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 13, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
6. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 107.
7. "GA Governor, 1928 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
8. Georgia Register 1929, pp. 384–386.
9. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 48.
10. "GA Governor, 1928". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
11. Glashan 1979, pp. 68–69.
12. Dubin 2013, p. 13.

Notes

1. Some sources indicate Hardman received 203,177 votes. ^[12]

Bibliography

• Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN   1-56802-396-0.
• Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN   0-930466-17-9.
• Dubin, Michael J. (2013). "Annual Summary". United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1912-1931: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN   9781476601007.
• Compiled by Ruth Blair, State Historian and Director (1929). Georgia's Official Register, 1929 (PDF). Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History.