1974 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election

The 1974 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on 5 November 1974 in order to elect the lieutenant governor of Georgia. Democratic nominee and former member of the Georgia State Senate Zell Miller defeated Republican nominee and incumbent member of the Georgia House of Representatives John Savage.

1974 Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election

5 November 1974

Nominee Zell Miller John Savage Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 597,598 305,161 Percentage 66.19% 33.80%

Lieutenant Governor before election Lester Maddox Democratic Elected Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller Democratic

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary election was held on 13 August 1974, but as no candidate received a majority of the vote, a run-off election was held between former member of the Georgia State Senate Zell Miller and Mary Hitt on 3 September 1974. Candidate Zell Miller received a majority of the votes (60.82%) in the run-off election against Hitt, and was thus elected as the nominee for the general election.

Results

Candidate	First Round		Run-off
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Zell Miller	246,928	31.25	539,015	60.82
Mary Hitt	146,615	18.55	347,222	39.18
Max Cleland	136,103	17.22
J. B. Stoner	73,449	9.29
Frank E. Coggin	48,245	6.11
Bill Laite	46,104	5.83
Dennis Jackson	30,413	3.85
Lamar Dailey Northcutt	29,847	3.78
E. C. Mitcham	22,812	2.89
Bill Salem	9,701	1.23
Total	790,217	100.00	886,237	100.00
Source:

Republican primary

The Republican primary election was held on 13 August 1974. Incumbent member of the Georgia House of Representatives John Savage received a majority of the votes (78.41%), and was thus elected as the nominee for the general election.

Results

1974 Republican lieutenant gubernatorial primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Savage	31,549	78.41%
	Republican	Windell Whitmore	8,689	21.59%
Total votes			40,238	100.00%

General election

On election day, 5 November 1974, Democratic nominee Zell Miller won the election by a margin of 292,437 votes against his opponent Republican nominee John Savage, thereby retaining Democratic control over the office of lieutenant governor. Miller was sworn in as the 8th lieutenant governor of Georgia on 14 January 1975.

Results

Georgia lieutenant gubernatorial election, 1974

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Zell Miller	597,598	66.19
	Republican	Frank G. Miller	305,161	33.80
	Write-in		167	0.01
Total votes			902,926	100.00
	Democratic hold