Evening star., 1946-07-19
1almadge Is First :
To Lose Popular Vote
And WinGoyernorship
By tho Associated Press

ATLANTA, July 19.-Gene Tai
madge of the unruly forelocks
and the acid phrase is to be
Governor of Georgia again-a
fourth time-but not by popular
choice.
This paradox could come only out
of Georgia. And it's the first time
it has ever happened in a Governors
race in Georgia, so far as anybody
seems to know.
The simple-but complicated-fact
is that Mr.. Talmadge won a ma
jority of county unit votes in We'd
nesday's Democratic primary, open
for the first time to Negroes who
voted in large numbers.
But the candidate backed by Gov.
Ellis Arnall, ,36-year-old James ".
Carmichael got plurality of the
TOO, ,000-odd votes in the primary,
the actual election in Georgia.
: Aids Rural Sections.
The county unit system, which
was placed on the statute books in
1917, is intended to give political
dominance to rural Georgia. Georgia
has 159 counties, most of them small,
and only few large cities.
The 410 county unit votes are arbi-
trarily assigned. No county can have
less than two, none more than six.
A vote in rural Georgia is worth
many times the vote of a person
living in Atlanta or Savannah. A
candidate must carry a county to get
its unit vote.
With returns complete in ISL of
the States 159 counties, Mr.. Tai
madge had 234 unit votes. Only 2O6
are needed for nomination. Mr..
Carmichael had 1874 unit votes and
former Gov. E. D. Rivers, who ran
poor third, had IS. Hoke O'Kelley,
the fourth candidate, had none.
Mr.. Carmichael's popular vote lead
appeared to be about 10000. With
l ,599 of the States 1,746 precincts
reported, the count was: Car
307,126; Talmadge, 296, ISL:
Rivers, 67,l96; O'Kelley, 1880.
Mankin Race in Doubt.
The county unit system beclouded
the issue in the 5th district con-
gressional race, where the renomi-
nation of Georgias first regularly
elected woman member of Congress,
Helen Douglas Mankin, was in
doubt.
The county unit system is op-
tional with the district Democratic
Committees. The popular vote has
prevailed in the 5th district for
years.
Following Mrs. Mankin's victory
in special election a few months
ago in which the heavy Atlanta Ne
gro vote was the balance OF power,
the lame duck" district committee
reverted to the unit system.
Mrs. Mankin named her own COM
mittee, which favored the popular
vote. The two other small counties
in the district have more unit votes
than populous Fulton (Atlanta).
Mrs. Mankin won the popular
vote with ease but lost the unit
vote, 6 to 8. The State Democratic
Committee will eventually have to
decide who is winner, Mrs. Mankin
or her opponent, Judge James C.
Davis.
Tarver Is Defeated.
Meanwhile Representative Tarver,
veteran of 20 years in Congress,
acknowledged defeat to Henderson
Lanham in the seventh district.
Here again Mr.. Tarver won In. the
popular vote but lost the unit vote.
There was no contest here, however,
over which system prevailed.
In the eighth district Representa-
tive Gibson fell behind w. M.
Wheeler in a see-saw race that
probably will not be decided until
the count is complete
In the first district Representa-
tive Peterson apparently won on
the basis of complete returns but
the margin was so slim a recount
might change the result.
Representative Cox in the second
district, Representative Vinson in
the sixth and Representative Wood
in the ninth apparently won re-
nomination. The States other three
House members were unopposed.