1978 Georgia gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1978 United States gubernatorial elections.

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.

1978 Georgia gubernatorial election

← 1974 November 7, 1978 1982 →

Nominee George Busbee Rodney Mims Cook Sr. Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 534,572 128,139 Percentage 80.7% 19.3%

County results Busbee:      50–60%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%

Governor before election George Busbee Democratic Elected Governor George Busbee Democratic

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^[1]

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