1958 Georgia gubernatorial election
The 1958 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958.
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 County Results Vandiver: 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% >90% Bodenhamer: 50-60% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Georgia |
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Lieutenant Governor Ernest Vandiver won the Democratic primary on September 10 with 80.51% of the vote and 400 out of 410 county unit votes. At this time, Georgia was a one-party state, and the Democratic nomination was tantamount to victory. Vandiver won the November general election without an opponent.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Lee Roy Abernathy, Southern gospel singer
- William T. Bodenhamer, Baptist preacher and state legislator from Ty Ty
- Ernest Vandiver, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia[1]
Campaign
Bodenhamer ran a "biblical segregationist" campaign[1] aligned with incumbent Governor Marvin Griffin, whom Vandiver had alienated during their term together.[2] He opened his campaign by showing pictures of Vandiver between two Negro politicians and said, "Birds of a feather flock together."[2] He accused Vandiver of being "the candidate of the NAACP."[1] Vandiver responded by promising that "no, not one" black would be admitted to Georgia's white schools.[1]
Lee Roy Abernaty, a gospel singer from Canton who frequently appeared on Atlanta television, also ran on a platform promising to diminish the powers of the governor and make monthly television reports to the people of Georgia.[2]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ernest Vandiver | 499,477 | 80.51% | |
| Democratic | William T. Bodenhamer | 87,830 | 14.16% | |
| Democratic | Lee Roy Abernathy | 33,099 | 5.34% | |
| Democratic | All others (write-in) | 3 | 0.00% | |
| Total votes | 620,409 | 100.00% | ||
In the decisive county unit count, Vandiver won 400 out of 410 votes, with Bodenhamer winning the remaining ten.[4] This was the last primary election held under the county unit rule, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in Gray v. Sanders.
General election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Ernest Vandiver | 168,414 | 100.00% | ||
References
- "The Georgia Baptist Convention and Desegregation, 1945–80". The Georgia Historical Quarterly. 83 (4): 697. Winter 1999.
- The Madera Tribune. 8 Sep 1858. p. 6. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=383045
- Compiled by Mrs. Mary Givens Bryan, Director (1958). Georgia's Official Register, 1957-1958. Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History. p. 728.
- http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=174218
- http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-598