The 1940 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1940, in order to elect the
Governor of Georgia
The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...
.
Incumbent
Democratic
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**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).
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
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
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 Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in the
U.S. state of
Georgia used a voting system called the
county unit system to determine victors in statewide primary elections.
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.
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.
Candidates were required to obtain a
majority
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster
runoff election
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
was held between the top two candidates to determine a winner.
Candidates
*Hosea Abit Nix, attorney
and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for Governor in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
*Columbus Roberts, businessman
*
Eugene Talmadge, former
Governor
Results
General election
In the general election, Talmadge faced token opposition.
Results
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{1940 United States elections
1940
A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
January
*January ...
Georgia
Gubernatorial
November 1940 events
United States gubernatorial elections in the 1940s
1940 in Georgia (U.S. state)
1940s in Georgia (U.S. state)
1940s Georgia (U.S. state) elections
September 1940 events
1940 elections
1940 elections in North America
1940 elections in the United States
Government of Georgia (U.S. state)