Lester's Last Hurrah

For the past four years a one-man road show named Lester Maddox has been touring Georgia. At rural crossroads and in small towns where his beloved "little people" congregate, Maddox, 59, sings hymns and country ballads, plays his harmonica, and pedals his star-spangled bicycle backward. The object is to give Maddox a second term as Governor, a post he held from 1967 to 1971. Prohibited by state law from succeeding himself, Maddox has been biding his time as Lieutenant Governor while waging the campaign he calls his "last hurrah." Last week that effort suffered a setback that may be fatal; Maddox failed to win enough votes to avoid a runoff in the Democratic primary.

As expected, Maddox led the crowded field of twelve candidates. After all, he has kept himself continuously in the public eye since 1964, when he drove blacks away from his Pickrick restaurant in Atlanta with a pistol and pick handles. But with just under 36% of the votes, his margin is too small to assure him the support he needs in the runoff on Sept. 3. He will face George Busbee, 47, a respected member of the state house of representatives for 18 years and now majority leader. Busbee won only 21% of the primary votes, but stands to gain more than Maddox from the votes that went to the other ten candidates. A majority of the voters, including 70% of the state's 450,000 registered blacks, stayed away from the polls last week. If many absentees show up for the runoff, they too are expected to help Busbee put an end to Ole Lester's political career.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.