Here was the result of the 1966 Georgia Democratic Primary:
Democratic primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ellis Arnall 231,480 29.38
Democratic Lester Maddox 185,672 23.56
Democratic Jimmy Carter 164,562 20.89
Democratic James H. Gray 152,973 19.41
Democratic Garland T. Byrd 39,994 5.08
Democratic Hoke O'Kelley 13,271 1.7
From Wikipedia (on Ellis Arnall's record as GA Governor in the 1940s):
Arnall obtained the repeal of the poll tax, ratification in 1945 of a new state constitution, and a state employee merit system. He also retired the Georgia state debt. When young men were drafted into the armed forces during World War II, Arnall argued that youths old enough to fight in war should be able to vote for their country's leadership. He succeeded in lowering the voting age to eighteen more than two decades before the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution implemented that change nationally. Georgia thus became the first state to grant the franchise to 18-year-olds. Arnall also removed the prison system from under the governor's direct control, establishing a board of corrections to oversee state prisons and a pardon and parole board to handle such requests. He removed the University of Georgia from political machinations,[8] and he led efforts to prevent a governor from exercising dictatorial powers, as opponents of Governor Eugene Talmadge had allegedly stated, had occurred during that administration. Arnall's reforms won him attention from the national press. Additionally, Arnall, a proponent of civil rights, argued that African Americans should be able to vote in the state's primary election.[9]
From Wikipedia (on Jimmy Carter's posture during the 1966 primary process:
Arnall's last campaign was for governor in 1966. His primary opponents for the nomination were Lester Maddox, an Atlanta restaurant owner who had hoisted ax handles as a symbol of his opposition to desegregation,[11] and Jimmy Carter. Maddox called Arnall "the granddaddy of forced racial integration ... a candidate who would never raise his voice or a finger - much less an ax handle - to protect the liberty of Georgia."[12] Arnall practically ignored Maddox and concentrated his fire on Republican Howard Callaway, on whom Arnall had compiled a dossier that he said would guarantee Republican defeat in the general election. Arnall won a plurality of the vote in the primary but was denied the required majority, because of support for Carter, then a state senator representing Plains, Georgia. Arnall barely campaigned in the runoff, and the result was a surprising victory for Maddox. Carter had refused to endorse Arnall, but he formally supported Maddox in the general election against Callaway.[13]
I was part of this Carter's primary campaign in 1976. Most people were supporting Carter because he was a guy who could take out George Wallace in the South, which would deflate Wallace's ability to hold Southern votes hostage. They knew that the Southern states were needed for the Democrats to be competitive, and they were a bloc of states that elected Democrats locally. But it was a compromise pick from folks that just got blown out 521-17 in the EC. They needed Carter to defeat Wallace, and Carter said all the right things about Civil Rights, but he was NOT a Democrat who had been with them in their causes; he was a guy they needed to avoid losing an election they were supposed to win.
Knowing what Theodore White called "the slick and gimmicky Carter" was, and how it manifested itself, my view as Jimmy Carter, the Humanitarian, is somewhat tempered. In politics, he was more than a little opportunistic, and his main cause was himself and his advancement. He was thinking of the Presidency in 1972, and I would not be shocked if he were thinking about it when he ran for Governor in 1966. Carter wasn't a BAD person, but he wasn't particularly courageous. James David Barber put it well; Carter STOOD, but he did not LEAD.
