1930 Georgia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1930 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1930 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1930, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia.

1930 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary runoff

← 1928 October 1, 1930 1932 →

Nominee Richard Russell Jr. George H. Carswell Party Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 330 84 Popular vote 99,505 47,157 Percentage 67.85% 32.15%

County results Russell:      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      >90% Carswell:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%

Governor before election Lamartine Griffin Hardman Democratic Elected Governor Richard Russell Jr. Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Governor Lamartine Griffin Hardman was term-limited, and ineligible to run for a third term.

As was common at the time, the Democratic candidate ran unopposed 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 9, 1930. As no candidate won a majority of county unit votes, a run-off was held between the top two candidates on October 1, 1930.

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

• George H. Carswell, incumbent Secretary of State of Georgia^[5][6]
• John N. Holder, former chairman of the State Highway Commission^[7]
• James A. Perry, chairman of the Georgia Public Service Commission^[5]
• Eurith D. Rivers, former State Senator and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination in the 1928 Georgia gubernatorial election
• Richard Russell Jr., Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives^[6]

Results

Democratic primary

Candidate	Popular vote		County unit vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Richard Russell Jr.	56,177	27.26	132	31.88
George H. Carswell	51,851	25.16	126	30.43
Eurith D. Rivers	47,121	22.87	88	21.26
John N. Holder	44,318	21.51	68	16.43
James A. Perry	6,594	3.20
Total	206,061	100.00	414	100.00
Source: ^[8]^[9]^[10]

Democratic primary runoff

Candidate	Popular vote		County unit vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Richard Russell Jr.	99,505	67.85	330	79.71
George H. Carswell	47,157	32.15	84	20.29
Total	146,662	100.00	414	100.00
Source: ^[8]^[11]^[12]

General election

In the general election, Russell ran unopposed.

Results

1930 Georgia gubernatorial election^{[13][14][15][16]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Russell Jr.	56,462	100.00%
Turnout			56,462	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

1. . Georgia County Clerks Association. Archived from the original on May 31, 2008. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
2. . The Jim Crow Encyclopedia. The African American Experience. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
3. "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. Fite, Gilbert C. (1991). Richard B. Russell Jr, Senator from Georgia. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0-8078-5465-4.
6. "Harris named for third term". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 11, 1930. p. A-4. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
7. History of Highway Construction in the State of Georgia and of the State Highway Board, 1916-1939 (PDF). Prepared by Division of Highway Planning of the State Highway Board of Georgia. 1939. p. 16.
8. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 107.
9. "GA Governor, 1930 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
10. Georgia Register 1931, pp. 642–647.
11. "GA Governor, 1930 - D Runoff". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
12. Georgia Register 1931, pp. 696–698.
13. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 48.
14. "GA Governor, 1930". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
15. Glashan 1979, pp. 68–69.
16. Dubin 2013, p. 14.

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.
• Dubin, Michael J. (2013). "Annual Summary". United States Gubernatorial Elections, 1912-1931: The Official Results by State and County. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 9781476601007.
• Compiled by Ruth Blair, State Historian and Director (1931). Georgia's Official Register, 1931 (PDF). Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History.