1940 Georgia gubernatorial election

none related races 1940 United States gubernatorial elections January 2025 September 2023 1940 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary Georgia (U.S. state) 1920 Presidential no 1938 Georgia gubernatorial election 1938 1942 Georgia gubernatorial election 1942 September 11, 1940 Eugene Talmadge circa 1935.jpg Eugene Talmadge 318 Democratic Party (United States) 183,133 51.58% Columbus Roberts.jpg Columbus Roberts 80 Democratic Party (United States) 127,653 35.95% Hosea Abit Nix.png Hosea Abit Nix 12 Democratic Party (United States) 44,282 12.47% File:1940 Georgia gubernatorial Democratic primary election results map by county.svg 250px County resultsTalmadge: #bdd3ff 30–40% #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0d056c >90%Roberts: #e9ddaf 40–50% #d3bc5f 50–60%Nix: #ffd4ff 40–50% #ffabff 60–70% #ff67ff 70–80% Governor Eurith D. Rivers Democratic Party (United States) Eugene Talmadge Democratic Party (United States) 410 county unit votes 206 unit The 1940 Georgia gubernatorial election took place in the US state on November 5, 1940, in order to elect the governor of Georgia. Incumbent 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).1877 Georgia constitution, Article V, Section I, Paragraph II https://www.georgiaarchives.org/assets/documents/research/1877_Georgia_Constitution.pdf Georgia State Archive The Executive power shall be vested in a Governor, who shall hold his office during the term of two years, and until his successor shall be chosen and qualified. He shall not be eligible to re-election, after the expiration of a second term, for the period of four years. 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 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 in the U.S. state of Georgia used a voting system called the county unit system to determine victors in statewide primary elections.http://www.georgiacca.com/unit.cfm County Unit System Georgia County Clerks Association 8 June 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20080531162547/http://www.georgiacca.com/unit.cfm 31 May 2008 dead 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.http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR4181&chapterID=GR4181-6373&path=encyclopedias/greenwood Eugene Talmadge The Jim Crow Encyclopedia The African American Experience 12 August 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20150123030046/http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR4181&chapterID=GR4181-6373&path=encyclopedias%2Fgreenwood 23 January 2015 dead http://rbrl.blogspot.com/2011/10/county-unit-system-eh.html County Unit System, eh? 6 October 2011 Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies 8 June 2020 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 of unit votes (not necessarily a majority of the popular vote), or 206 total unit votes, to win the election. If no candidate received a majority in the initial primary, a runoff election was held between the top two candidates to determine a winner.http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/county-unit-system County Unit System Buchanan Scott 13 June 2017 New Georgia Encyclopedia 8 June 2020 Candidates Hosea Abit Nix, attorney Talmadge of Georgia Wins Governorship For Third Time https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1940-09-12/ed-1/seq-24/#date1=1940&index=0&rows=20&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Nix+Robert+Roberts+Talmadge&proxdistance=5&date2=1940&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=talmadge+nix+roberts&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 Evening Star Washington, D.C. 12 September 1940 B-6 17 June 2020 and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for governor in 1932 Columbus Roberts, businessman Eugene Talmadge, former governor Results Popular vote County unit vote Eugene Talmadge 183133 318 Columbus Roberts 127653 80 Hosea Abit Nix 44282 12 Congressional Quarterly 1998 107https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=377398 GA Governor, 1940 - D Primary Our Campaigns 17 June 2020Georgia Register 1943 498-501 General election In the general election, Talmadge faced token opposition. Results 1940 Georgia gubernatorial electionCongressional Quarterly 1998 48https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=261913 GA Governor, 1940 Our Campaigns 17 June 2020Glashan 1979 68-69Georgia Register 1943 554-559 Democratic Party (United States) Eugene Talmadge 267,574 91.94% Independent Democrat Eugene Talmadge 22,303 7.66% Total Eugene Talmadge 289,877 99.60% Prohibition Party J. L. R. Boyd 875 0.30% Independent (United States) Joseph M. Wallace 296 0.10% 291,048 100.00% Democratic Party (United States) References Bibliography Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997 Washington, D.C. Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998 1-56802-396-0 Congressional Quarterly 1998 Glashan Roy R. American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978 Meckler Books 1979 0-930466-17-9 Compiled by Mrs. J.E. Hays, State Historian and Director 1943 Georgia's Official Register, 1939-1941-1943 http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/statreg-images/pdfs/1939.pdf Atlanta, GA State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History Georgia Register 1943 1940 Georgia Gubernatorial Category:November 1940 in the United States