1940 Georgia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1940 United States gubernatorial elections.

1940 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary

←  1938 September 11, 1940 1942  →
410 county unit votes 206 unit votes needed to win
Nominee Eugene Talmadge Columbus Roberts Hosea Abit Nix Party Democratic Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 318 80 12 Popular vote 183,133 127,653 44,282 Percentage 51.58% 35.95% 12.47%
County results Talmadge:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Roberts:     40–50%     50–60% Nix:     40–50%     60–70%     70–80%
Governor before election Eurith D. Rivers Democratic Elected Governor Eugene Talmadge Democratic

The 1940 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1940, in order to elect the governor of Georgia.

Incumbent Democratic governor Eurith D. Rivers was term-limited, and ineligible to run for a third term until spending four years out of office (thus in 1944). ^[1]

As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran with only token opposition 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 11, 1940. As Talmadge won a majority of county unit votes, 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. ^[2]

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. ^{[3] [4]}

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. ^{[3] [4]}

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. ^[5]

Candidates

• Hosea Abit Nix, attorney ^[6] and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for governor in 1932
• Columbus Roberts, businessman ^[6]
• Eugene Talmadge, former governor

Results

Candidate	Popular vote		County unit vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Eugene Talmadge	183,133	51.58	318	77.56
Columbus Roberts	127,653	35.95	80	19.51
Hosea Abit Nix	44,282	12.47	12	2.93
Total	355,068	100.00	410	100.00
Source: [7] [8] [9]

General election

In the general election, Talmadge faced token opposition.

Results

1940 Georgia gubernatorial election ^{[10] [11] [12] [13]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Eugene Talmadge	267,574	91.94%
	Independent Democrat	Eugene Talmadge	22,303	7.66%
	Total	Eugene Talmadge	289,877	99.60%
	Prohibition	J. L. R. Boyd	875	0.30%
	Independent	Joseph M. Wallace	296	0.10%
Turnout			291,048	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. "1877 Georgia constitution, Article V, Section I, Paragraph II" (PDF). Georgia State Archive. The Executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office during the term of two years, and until his successor shall be chosen and qualified. He shall not be eligible to re-election, after the expiration of a second term, for the period of four years.
2. "County Unit System". Georgia County Clerks Association. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
3. "Eugene Talmadge". The Jim Crow Encyclopedia. The African American Experience. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
4. "County Unit System, eh?". Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. October 6, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
5. Buchanan, Scott (June 13, 2017). "County Unit System". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
6. "Talmadge of Georgia Wins Governorship For Third Time". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 12, 1940. p. B-6. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
7. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 107.
8. "GA Governor, 1940 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
9. Georgia Register 1943, pp. 498–501.
10. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 48.
11. "GA Governor, 1940". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
12. Glashan 1979, pp. 68–69.
13. Georgia Register 1943, pp. 554–559.

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.
• Compiled by Mrs. J.E. Hays, State Historian and Director (1943). Georgia's Official Register, 1939-1941-1943 (PDF). Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History.