The 1946 Gubernatorial Election :
Triumph of the Rustic
The county unit system favored rural demagogic politicians over urban and business-oriented moderates. Take the election of 1946. It opposed Eugene Talmadge, the “rustic” arch-segregationist and leader of the conservative wing of the Democratic party, to James V. Carmichael, one of Georgia’s most influential business leaders and representative of the progressive wing of the Democratic party.
While winning the popular vote by more than 15, 000 votes, Carmichael lost to Talmadge on the basis of the county unit vote. Talmadge lost 5 of the 6 most populous counties, but won in most sparsely populated ones.
| Candidate | 2 Unit Counties (%) | 4 Unit Counties (%) | 6 Unit Counties (%) | Unit Votes (%) | Popular Vote (%) |
| Eugene Talmadge | 91 (75%) | 13 (43.3%) | 1 (12.5%) | 242 (59%) | 297 245 (43%) |
| James V. Carmichael | 21 (17%) | 16 (53.3%) | 7 (87.5%) | 146 (36%) | 313 389 (45%) |
| Other | 9 (8%) | 1 (0.3%) | 0 (0%) | 22 (5%) | 81 887 (12%) |
| Total | 121 (100%) | 30 (100%) | 8 (100%) | 410 (100%) | 692 516 (100%) |
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