Georgia gubernatorial election, 1974

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Georgia gubernatorial election of 1974
Flag of the State of Georgia (1956-2001).svg
  1970 November 5, 1974 1978  

  George Busbee.jpg Ronnie Thompson 4.jpg
Nominee George Busbee Ronnie Thompson
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote646,777 289,113
Percentage69.1% 30.9%

Georgia Governor 1974.svg

Election results by county

Governor before election

Jimmy Carter
Democratic

Elected Governor

George Busbee
Democratic

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. He would later go on to be elected President of the United States in the 1976 presidential election. George Busbee was elected as the 77th Governor of Georgia.

Jimmy Carter 39th president of the United States

James Earl Carter Jr. is an American politician and philanthropist who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A Democrat, he previously served as a Georgia State senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center.

President of the United States Head of state and of government of the United States

The President of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Contents

Democratic nomination

In the primary, Lieutenant Governor (and former Governor) Lester Maddox won a plurality with 310,384 votes (36.32%). George Busbee finished 2nd with 177,997 votes (20.83%), edging out Bert Lance who had 147,026 votes (17.20%). [1]

Lester Maddox Georgia politician

Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. was an American politician who served as the 75th Governor of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1967 to 1971. A populist Democrat, Maddox came to prominence as a staunch segregationist when he refused to serve black customers in his Atlanta restaurant, in defiance of the Civil Rights Act. He later served as Lieutenant Governor during the time that Jimmy Carter was Governor.

Bert Lance American businessman and politician

Thomas Bertram "Bert" Lance was an American businessman who served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter in 1977. He is known mainly for his resignation from Carter's administration due to a scandal during his first year in office; he was cleared of all charges.

In the runoff, Busbee defeated Maddox 551,106 (59.8 percent) to 369,608 (40.1 percent). [2]

Notably, Ronnie Thompson won 21,848 votes in the original primary, due to him cross-filing and running in both primary elections.

In American politics, cross-filing occurs when a candidate runs in the primary election of not only his own party, but also that of one or more other parties, generally in the hope of reducing or eliminating his competition at the general election.

Republican nomination

In the primary, Thompson (who had been the first GOP member to be elected of Macon, Georgia) won a plurality 17,830 votes (41 percent) over 2nd-place finisher Harold Dye and his 9,870 votes (23 percent) and George Lankford's 8,618 votes (17.95%). [3]

Macon, Georgia Consolidated city–county in Georgia, United States

Macon, officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county located in the state of Georgia, United States. Macon lies near the geographic center of the state, approximately 85 miles (137 km) south of Atlanta, hence the city's nickname "The Heart of Georgia."

In the runoff, Thompson won with 22,211 votes (50.6 percent) to Dye's 21,669 votes (49.3 percent). [4]

General election results

In a year marred 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 that inspired leaders in the party to not openly support him, Busbee was elected in a landslide. Douglas and Clayton County were the only two counties that Thompson won the most votes in. [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 consecutive term. Subsequently, Busbee ran for Governor again four years later. Zell Miller was elected as lieutenant governor, serving for 16 years.

Georgia gubernatorial Election 1974
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic George Busbee 646,777 69.07%
Republican Ronnie Thompson 289,113 30.87%

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References