1932 Georgia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1932 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1932 Georgia gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1932, in order to elect the Governor of Georgia.

1932 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary

← 1930 September 14, 1932 1934 →

Nominee Eugene Talmadge Hosea Abit Nix Party Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 264 94 Popular vote 116,381 78,588 Percentage 42.02% 28.38%   Nominee Thomas W. Hardwick John N. Holder Party Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 30 10 Popular vote 35,252 19,697 Percentage 12.73% 7.11%

County results Talmadge:      20-30%      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Nix:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90% Hardwick:      30-40%      40-50%      50-60% Holder:      30-40%      50-60% Edwards:      30-40%      60-70% Kelly:      50-60%

Governor before election Richard Russell Jr. Democratic Elected Governor Eugene Talmadge Democratic

Incumbent Democratic Governor Richard Russell Jr. did not run for re-election to a second term, but instead ran for the U.S. Senate.

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 14, 1932. 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.^[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

• H. B. Edwards
• Thomas W. Hardwick, former Governor
• John N. Holder, former chairman of the State Highway Commission^[5] and unsuccessful candidate for Democratic nomination for governor in 1920 and 1926
• John I. Kelley
• Hosea Abit Nix, attorney^[6]
• Hoke O'Kelley, businessman^[7]
• F. B. Summers
• Eugene Talmadge, incumbent State Commissioner of Agriculture^[6][8]

Results

Candidate	Popular vote		County unit vote
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Eugene Talmadge	116,381	42.02	264	64.39
Hosea Abit Nix	78,588	28.38	94	22.93
Thomas W. Hardwick	35,252	12.73	30	7.32
John N. Holder	19,697	7.11	10	2.44
H. B. Edwards	12,897	4.66	8	1.95
John I. Kelley	12,115	4.37	4	0.98
Hoke O'Kelley	1,823	0.66
F. B. Summers	197	0.07
Total	276,950	100.00	410	100.00
Source: ^[9]^[10]^[11]

General election

In the general election, Talmadge ran unopposed.

Results

1932 Georgia gubernatorial election^{[12][13][14][15]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Eugene Talmadge	240,242	100.00%
Turnout			240,242	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. 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.
6. "Lankford trails Dean". Evening Star. Washington, D.C. September 15, 1932. p. 1. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
7. "Hoke O'Kelley Memorial Library". Emory University: History and Traditions. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
8. Saye, Albert B. (1948). A Constitutional History of Georgia, 1732-1945. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. p. 379. ISBN 0-8203-3554-1.
9. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 107.
10. "GA Governor, 1932 - D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
11. Georgia Register 1937, pp. 542–545.
12. Congressional Quarterly 1998, p. 48.
13. "GA Governor, 1932". Our Campaigns. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
14. Glashan 1979, pp. 68–69.
15. Georgia Register 1937, pp. 657.

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 (1937). Georgia's Official Register, 1933-1935-1937 (PDF). Atlanta, GA: State of Georgia, Department of Archives and History.