Mary M. answered • 06/11/19
Lifetime Interest in American History Includes Writing Lesson Plans
...a very circuitous trail indeed: see
https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/three-governors-controversy
Henry Talmadge vs. Melvin E.Thompson (Lt. Governor) both claimed right to be Governor after Eugene Talmadge died in late December 1946.
On January 15, 1947, the General Assembly elected Herman Talmadge as governor. Meanwhile, Thompson began legal proceedings to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.
As the legislature was electing Herman Talmadge governor and Thompson was preparing a court fight to dispute Talmadge's election, the outgoing governor, Ellis Arnall, announced that he would not relinquish the office until it was clear who the new governor was.
(So, there were 3 claimants to governorship: Herman Talmadge, Melvin E. Thompson, and the outgoing governor, Ellis Arnall)...Talmadge asked Arnall to honor the General Assembly's election. Arnall maintained that the legislature had no right to elect a governor and refused to step aside. Talmadge then ordered state troopers to remove Arnall from the capitol and see that he returned home safely. On January 15, the day of the legislative election, both Herman Talmadge and Ellis Arnall claimed to be governor of Georgia and shared the same offices in the capitol. By the next day Talmadge had seized control of the governor's office and had the locks on the doors changed. Arnall continued to maintain his position as governor and even set up a governor's office in exile in an information kiosk in the capitol. Ultimately, Arnall relinquished his claim as governor and supported Thompson.
After Arnall surrendered his claim to the governorship, Georgia was still left with two governors, each of whom had appointed government officials. The result was two months of chaos.
In March 1947 the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Melvin E. Thompson was the rightful governor because he was lieutenant governor–elect when Eugene Talmadge died. In a five-to-two decision the justices ruled that Thompson would be the acting governor until a special election could be held to decide the remainder of the original term, which would have run from 1947 to 1951. Within two hours of the court decision, Herman Talmadge left the governor's office. His apparent capitulation surprised many who thought that he might challenge the ruling. Almost immediately he began campaigning for the special election in September 1948.
After Herman Talmadge's easy victory over Thompson in 1948, no avowed member of that faction ever occupied the governor's office again. (Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes, especially in the world of politics).
