1998 Georgia gubernatorial election

none related races 1998 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1998 Georgia gubernatorial election Georgia (U.S. state) presidential no 1994 Georgia gubernatorial election 1994 2002 Georgia gubernatorial election 2002 November 3, 1998 1956 File:Roy Barnes official portrait (cropped).webp 150x150px Roy Barnes Democratic Party (United States) 941,076 52.49% 3x4.svg Guy Millner Republican Party (United States) 790,201 44.08% 1998 Georgia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 250px County resultsBarnes: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90%Millner: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% Governor Zell Miller Democratic Party (United States) Roy Barnes Democratic Party (United States) The 1998 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998. Democratic incumbent Zell Miller was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. In the open race to succeed him, Democratic state representative Roy Barnes defeated Republican businessman Guy Millner. State representative Roy Barnes won the Democratic Party's nomination after a close and highly contested primary election, while businessman Guy Millner, who had run for governor and the United States Senate in the previous four years, won the nomination of the Republican Party. In the general election, Barnes was able to defeat Millner by a margin of victory larger than Governor Miller's victory over Millner four years prior, which was in part due to the unpopularity and controversy of Mitch Skandalakis, the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. As of , this is the most recent time a Democrat was elected Governor of Georgia. Democratic primary Candidates Roy Barnes, state representative from Marietta Lewis A. Massey, Georgia secretary of state David Poythress, Georgia commissioner of labor Steve Langford, state senator from LaGrange Morris James Carlton Myers, Pine Mountain veterinarian and 1974 candidate for Senate Results thumb|center|Primary results by county: #6674de Barnes #bdd3ff Barnes—30–40% #a5b0ff Barnes—40–50% #7996e2 Barnes—50–60% #6674de Barnes—>60% #37c837 Massey #aae5aa Massey—30–40% #87de87 Massey—40–50% #5fd35f Massey—50–60% #37c837 Massey—>60% #D75D5D Lanford #ffc8cd Langford—>30% Democratic primary resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=40413 Our Campaigns - GA Governor - D Primary Race - Jul 21, 1998 www.ourcampaigns.com Roy Barnes Democratic Party (United States) 239,517 49.20 Lewis A. Massey Democratic Party (United States) 135,920 27.92 David Poythress Democratic Party (United States) 65,860 13.53 Steve Langford Democratic Party (United States) 31,543 6.48 Morris James Democratic Party (United States) 9,148 1.88 Carlton Myers Democratic Party (United States) 4,853 1.00 486,841 100.00 Runoff results thumb|center|Runoff results by county: #6674de Barnes #6674de Barnes—60%–70% #584cde Barnes—70%–80% #3933e5 Barnes—80%–90% #0d0596 Barnes—>90% Democratic primary runoff resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=40423 Our Campaigns - GA Governor - D Runoff Race - Aug 11, 1998 www.ourcampaigns.com Roy Barnes Democratic Party (United States) 221,651 82.90 Lewis A. Massey Democratic Party (United States) 45,735 17.10 267,386 100.00 Republican primary Candidates Mike Bowers, Georgia attorney general Guy Millner, businessman, 1996 nominee for U.S. Senate, and 1994 nominee for governor Nancy Schaefer, 1994 nominee for lieutenant governor Bruce Hatfield Campaign Bowers's campaign was derailed when he admitted to a fifteen-year extramarital affair with Anne Davis, his secretary and a former Playboy Club waitress. Davis publicly stated that the romance had been active as recently as April 1997, six weeks prior to Bowers' June 5 announcement. Our Georgia History Results thumb|Primary results by county: #d75d5d Millner #ffb2b2 Millner—40–50% #e27f7f Millner—50–60% #d75d5d Millner—60–70% #d72f30 Millner—>70% #ee8e50 Bowers #ffb580 Bowers—40–50% #ff9a50 Bowers—>50% #ae8bb1 Tie #ae8bb1 Tie between Bowers and Millner–40–50% #d2b1d9 Tie between Bowers, Millner, and Hatfield–33% Millner narrowly avoided a run-off by just 1,573 votes. However, Bowers conceded before a recount finalized the result, admitting that all indications pointed to a victory for Millner."National News Briefs; Republican Concedes in Georgia Primary", The New York Times, July 29, 1998. Republican primary resultshttps://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=40414 Our Campaigns - GA Governor - R Primary Race - Jul 21, 1998 www.ourcampaigns.com Guy Millner Republican Party (United States) 210,845 50.38 Mike Bowers Republican Party (United States) 167,074 39.92 Nancy Schaefer Republican Party (United States) 32,315 7.72 Bruce Hatfield Republican Party (United States) 8,308 1.98 418,542 100.00 General election Candidates Roy Barnes, state representative from Marietta (Democratic) Jack Cashin (Libertarian) Guy Millner, businessman, 1996 nominee for U.S. Senate, and 1994 nominee for governor (Republican) Polling Poll source Date(s) SamplesizeKey:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersV – unclear Marginof error RoyBarnes (D) GuyMillner (R)Other / undecidedCalculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined. pollingHarris Insights & AnalyticsFiveThirtyEight's Pollster Ratings Raw Polls File https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fivethirtyeight/data/refs/heads/master/pollster-ratings/2023/raw-polls.csv October 15, 2026 GitHub FiveThirtyEightOctober 30, 19981,408—43%50%7%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyCNN AllPolitics Election '98 - Georgia 1998 Polls https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/GA/polls/GA98G.html CNN 19 June 2025 https://archive.today/20250619211153/https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/1998/states/GA/polls/GA98G.html 19 June 2025 liveOctober 26–28, 1998809 (LV)± 3.5%43%46%11%Marketing WorkshopOctober 26, 1998709—40%45%15%Harris Insights & AnalyticsOctober 20, 19981,174—42%47%11%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyOctober 5–6, 1998807 (LV)± 3.5%42%45%13%Marketing WorkshopPoll sponsored by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and WSB-TV2September 26–29, 1998690 (RV)± 3.7%41%47%12%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategySeptember 5–8, 1998829 (LV)± 3.5%41%42%17%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyJuly 13–15, 1998828 (LV)± 3.5%39%45%16%Mason-Dixon Polling & StrategyJune 20–23, 1998807 (V)± 3.5%33%42%25% Results 1998 Georgia gubernatorial electionhttp://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/results/1998_1103/0000200.htm 11/3/98 - Governor January 12, 2004 January 7, 2023 December 14, 2006 https://web.archive.org/web/20061214020557/https://web.archive.org/web/20040112064053/http://www.sos.state.ga.us/elections/results/1998_1103/0000200.htm bot: unknown Democratic Party (United States) Roy Barnes 941,076 52.49% +1.44% Republican Party (United States) Guy Millner 790,201 44.08% -4.87% Libertarian Party (United States) Jack Cashin 61,531 3.43% 150,875 8.42% +6.31% 1,792,808 Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Notes Partisan clients References Georgia (U.S. State) External links Official campaign websites (archived) Roy Barnes (D) for Governor Guy Millner (R) for Governor 1998 Gubernatorial Category:1998 United States gubernatorial elections Category:November 1998 in the United States Category:July 1998 in the United States Category:August 1998 in the United States