The 1974 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1974. Under Georgia's constitution at the time, incumbent Democratic governor

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

was ineligible to serve a second consecutive term. He was elected

President 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 Stat ...

in the 1976 presidential election.

George Busbee George Dekle Busbee Sr. (August 7, 1927 – July 16, 2004), was an American politician who served as the 77th Governor of the State of Georgia from 1975 to 1983, and a senior partner at King & Spalding thereafter. Early life Born in Vienna, Geor ...

was elected as the 77th Governor of Georgia.

Democratic nomination

In the primary, Lieutenant Governor (and former Governor)

Lester Maddox Lester Garfield Maddox Sr. (September 30, 1915 – June 25, 2003) 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 segregationis ...

won a plurality with 310,384 votes (36.32%). George Busbee finished 2nd with 177,997 votes (20.83%), edging out

Bert Lance Thomas Bertram "Bert" Lance (June 3, 1931 – August 15, 2013) 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 resigning from the Carter admini ...

who had 147,026 votes (17.20%). In the runoff, Busbee defeated Maddox 551,106 (59.8 percent) to 369,608 (40.1 percent). Notably, Macon

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Ronnie Thompson won 21,848 votes in the original primary, due to him

cross-filing In American politics, cross-filing (similar to the concept of electoral fusion) occurs when a candidate runs in the primary election of not only their own party, but also that of one or more other parties, generally in the hope of reducing or eli ...

and running in both primary elections.

David H. Gambrell David Henry Gambrell (December 20, 1929 – May 6, 2021) was an American attorney who represented Georgia in the United States Senate from 1971 through 1972. Education and legal career Gambrell was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 20, 192 ...

, George T. Smith, and Harry C. Jackson also ran for the nomination.

Republican nomination

In the primary, Mayor Ronnie Thompson (who had been the first GOP member to be elected mayor of

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

) 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%). In the runoff, Thompson won with 22,211 votes (50.6 percent) to Dye's 21,669 votes (49.3 percent). Harry Geisinger also ran for the nomination.

General election results

In a year marred by

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

'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.1974 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Georgia
/ref> 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 Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U. ...

was elected as

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, serving for 16 years. As of 2022, this is the last time that

Clayton County Clayton County is the name of two counties in the United States: * Clayton County, Georgia in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area * Clayton County, Iowa It was also the former name of Clay County, Arkansas Clay County is a county located in the U.S. ...

voted for the Republican candidate for governor.

References

{{1974 United States elections

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...

November 1974 events in the United States 1974 in Georgia (U.S. state) 1970s in Georgia (U.S. state) 1970s Georgia (U.S. state) elections November 1974 events November 1974 events in North America August 1974 events August 1974 events in North America August 1974 events in the United States September 1974 events September 1974 events in North America September 1974 events in the United States 1974 elections 1974 elections in North America 1974 elections in the United States Government of Georgia (U.S. state)