1966 Georgia Gubernatorial Race

[Adlai Stevenson]

I'm not sure where else to put this thread that I wanted to ask about.  Basically, in 1966 in Georgia the Republican candidate for Governor, managed to beat the Democratic candidate Lester Maddox to win in a plurality - I assume something like 49%-48%.  Maddox, however, was elected Governor by the Democratic-dominated Georgia State Legislature.  What I have to ask is, given that Maddox was known for his inflammatory pro-segregationist views, how could he have lost to a Republican?  Elections in Georgia at that time remained dominated by the Democratic Party and continued to be up until the 1980s and 1990s.  Lyndon Johnson even managed to get 45% of the vote in Georgia in 1964, despite his huge losses in Mississippi and Alabama.  So I was just wondering how it was that a conservative Democrat like Maddox was in a close race in the first place, he was the right candidate for Georgia after all? 

[RBH]

Callaway was a Goldwater Republican, but possibly more liberal than Maddox.

Maddox was not a moderate Democrat, he was a Conservative Democrat, and he won those votes.

I'd think quite a few Johnson voters voted for Callaway or stayed home. Plus, the write-in effort for Arnall also lowered Maddox's percentage

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It was a three-way race, not two, as RBH mentioned.  Former Governor Arnall received a plurality in the Democratic primary and assumed he would win the run-off so he didn't campaign much and was stunned when Maddox won the run-off.  He then engaged in a write-in campaign, coming in third behind Maddox and Callaway, but throwing the election into the legislature.

[HardRCafé]

1966 was a banner year for Republicans, and the 1964 incident with the axe handle gave pause to Georgians of both parties.