1978 Georgia gubernatorial election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1978 Georgia gubernatorial election

← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →
  George Busbee (cropped).jpg Rodney Mims Cook.jpg
Nominee George Busbee Rodney Mims Cook Sr.
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 534,572 128,139
Percentage 80.7% 19.3%

1978 Georgia gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results
Busbee:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

Governor before election

George Busbee
Democratic

Elected Governor

George Busbee
Democratic

The 1978 Georgia gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1978. George Busbee was re-elected, the first time a Governor of Georgia was re-elected for a second four-year term under the amendment made to the constitution in 1976 and the first time overall after serving a complete first four-year term.

Democratic nomination[]

Governor Busbee won the primary with 503,875 votes (72.41%), defeating Roscoe Dean, Jr and his 111,901 votes (16.08%). Notable segregationist J. B. Stoner finished 3rd with 37,654 votes (5.41%).

Republican nomination[]

Rodney Cook, who had served in the Georgia House of Representatives defeated Bud Herrin with 23,231 votes (87.32%) to his 3,374 votes (12.68%).

General election results[]

This election was a contest between the Democratic Governor Busbee and civil rights icon Rodney Cook who ran on the Republican ticket. Despite fewer votes from the previous election four years earlier, Busbee defeated Cook in every single county and by over 400,000 votes.

Georgia gubernatorial Election 1978
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic George Busbee (incumbent) 534,572 80.65%
Republican Rodney Mims Cook, Sr. 128,319 19.33%
Democratic hold Swing


Retrieved from ""