1958 Georgia gubernatorial election

1958 Georgia Democratic gubernatorial primary

← 1954 September 10, 1958 1962 →

Nominee Ernest Vandiver William Bodenhamer Lee Roy Abernathy Party Democratic Democratic Democratic Electoral vote 400 10 0 Popular vote 499,477 87,830 33,099 Percentage 80.51% 14.16% 5.34%

County results Vandiver:      50-60%      60-70%      70-80%      80-90%      >90% Bodenhamer:      50-60%

Governor before election Marvin Griffin Democratic Elected Governor Ernest Vandiver Democratic

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The 1958 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1958.

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 Abernathy, 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[]

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[]

References[]