1938 Georgia gubernatorial election

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

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

Incumbent Democrat 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

• Hugh Howell, former Chairman of the Georgia Democratic State Executive Committee[5]
• John J. Mangham, farmer[6]
• Eurith D. Rivers, incumbent Governor
• Robert F. Wood, salesman[6]

Results

Democratic primary[7][8][9]
Candidate	Votes	%	CUV
Eurith D. Rivers	160,459	50.72	282
Hugh Howell	134,121	42.40	126
John J. Mangham	19,537	6.18	2
Robert F. Wood	2,220	0.70	0

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