1938 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary
September 14, 1938
 
Nominee Eurith D. Rivers Hugh Howell John J. Mangham
Party Democratic Democratic Democratic
Electoral vote 282 126 2
Popular vote 160,459 134,131 19,537
Percentage 50.72% 42.40% 6.18%
Governor before election

Eurith D. Rivers
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Eurith D. Rivers
Democratic

The 1938 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1938, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia.

Incumbent Democratic Governor Eurith D. Rivers was re-elected to a second term.

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 14, 1938. As Rivers 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.[1]

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.[2][3]

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.[2][3]

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.[4]

Candidates

Results

CandidatePopular voteCounty unit vote
Votes%Votes%
Eurith D. Rivers160,45950.7228268.78
Hugh Howell134,12142.4012630.73
John J. Mangham19,5376.1820.49
Robert F. Wood2,2200.70
Total316,337100.00410100.00
Source: [7][8][9]

General election

In the general election, Rivers faced token opposition.

Results

1938 Georgia gubernatorial election[10][11][12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Eurith D. Rivers (incumbent) 66,863 94.28%
Independent E. S. Fuller 1,914 2.70%
Prohibition L. P. Glass 1,358 1.92%
Independent Alexander Stephens Mitchell 784 1.11%
Turnout 70,919 100.00%
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "County Unit System". Georgia County Clerks Association. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Eugene Talmadge". The Jim Crow Encyclopedia. The African American Experience. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  3. 1 2 "County Unit System, eh?". Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. October 6, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ Buchanan, Scott (June 13, 2017). "County Unit System". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  5. ↑ "George assured Senate victory in purge defeat". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 15, 1938. p. A-17. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Georgians vote on purge issue". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 14, 1938. p. A-5. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  7. ↑ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 107.
  8. ↑ "GA Governor, 1938 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  9. ↑ Georgia Register 1943, pp. 361–364.
  10. ↑ Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 48.
  11. ↑ "GA Governor, 1938". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Glashan 1979, pp. 68–69.
  13. ↑ Georgia Register 1943, pp. 406–411.

Bibliography

  • Gubernatorial Elections, 1787-1997. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Inc. 1998. ISBN 1-56802-396-0.
  • Glashan, Roy R. (1979). American Governors and Gubernatorial Elections, 1775-1978. Meckler Books. ISBN 0-930466-17-9.
  • Compiled by Mrs. J.E. Hays, State Historian and Director (1943). Georgia's Official Register, 1939-1941-1943 (PDF). Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History.
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