This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2016) |
![]() | |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
![]() County results Busbee: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Thompson: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
|
Elections icn Georgia |
---|
![]() |
The 1974 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Under Georgia's constitution at the time, incumbent Democratic governor Jimmy Carter was ineligible to serve a second consecutive term, and was in the process of launching his presidential campaign. George Busbee was elected as the 77th Governor of Georgia.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lester Maddox | 310,384 | 36.32 | |
Democratic | George Busbee | 177,977 | 20.83 | |
Democratic | Bert Lance | 147,026 | 17.20 | |
Democratic | David H. Gambrell | 66,000 | 7.72 | |
Democratic | George T. Smith | 43,196 | 5.05 | |
Democratic | Harry C. Jackson | 42,121 | 4.93 | |
Democratic | Robert A. Rowan | 31,696 | 3.71 | |
Democratic | Ronnie Thompson | 23,933 | 2.80 | |
Democratic | B. J. Parker | 4,650 | 0.54 | |
Democratic | Bud Herrin | 3,419 | 0.40 | |
Democratic | Thomas J. Irwin | 2,224 | 0.26 | |
Democratic | Jennings Thompson | 1,987 | 0.23 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | George Busbee | 551,106 | 59.86 | |
Democratic | Lester Maddox | 369,608 | 40.14 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronnie Thompson | 19,691 | 41.00 | |
Republican | Harold Dye | 10,912 | 22.72 | |
Republican | George Lankford | 8,618 | 17.95 | |
Republican | Harry Geisinger | 6,078 | 12.66 | |
Republican | Bill Coolidge | 2,723 | 5.67 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ronnie Thompson | 22,211 | 50.62 | |
Republican | Harold Dye | 21,669 | 49.38 |
In a year marred for the Republicans by Richard Nixon's resignation just three months earlier, alongside the continued domination of Georgia by the Democratic Party and Thompson's dividing of the GOP (a move which inspired many prominent figures in the Georgia party to refrain from openly supporting him), Busbee was elected in a landslide. Douglas and Clayton County were the only two counties where Thompson won the most votes. [5] Two years later, a revision of the Georgia Constitution was done that included a rule to allow a Governor to be elected to a second consecutive term. Subsequently, Busbee ran for Governor again four years later. Zell Miller was elected as lieutenant governor, serving for 16 years. As of 2022, this is the last time that Clayton County voted for the Republican candidate for governor.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | George Busbee | 646,777 | 69.07% | ||
Republican | Ronnie Thompson | 289,113 | 30.87% | ||
Democratic hold | Swing |