George Elliott Hagan (May 24, 1916 – December 26, 1990) was an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, businessman and farmer and a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Early years and education

Hagan was born in Sylvania,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

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Political career

Georgia General Assembly

He served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

from 1939 to 1944, resigned from office to join the

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as a member of the

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for two years. Following the war, he was returned to the House in 1946 and served until his election to the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

in 1950. Hagan was sworn in as a state senator in January 1951 and served one term, leaving office in 1953. Between 1953 and 1960, Hagan served in numerous other state government positions and also worked in the insurance and financial planning industry and several agricultural pursuits. He served on the board of trustees for

Tift College Tift College was a private liberal arts women's college located in Forsyth, Georgia. Founded in 1849, the college ceased operations in 1987, after being merged with Mercer University in nearby Macon, Georgia. The campus facilities have been a ...

United States Congress

In 1960, Hagan challenged incumbent Congressman Prince H. Preston, Jr., a noted

segregationist Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by peopl ...

in the Democratic primary for

Georgia's 1st congressional district Georgia's 1st congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is currently represented by Republican Party (United States), Republican Budd ...

. Preston narrowly prevailed in the actual popular vote (34,318 to 33,629), but under Georgia's election laws, Hagan defeated Preston on "county unit" votes by a margin of 26 to 18 and went on to win unopposed in the general election (the Georgia Republican Party being very weak at the time and fielded very few candidates, having not won a race for any congressional race since 1872). Preston would die only a month after the conclusion of his term in early 1973. Hagan would serve six terms from the

87th United States Congress The 87th United States Congress was a meeting of the United States Congress, legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D ...

to the

92nd United States Congress The 92nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from January 3, 197 ...

. He ran unopposed in 1962, and faced minor Independent opposition in 1964, winning with 72%. In 1966, he was challenged in the Democratic primary by several opponents and was forced by Savannah State Sen.

Frank Downing Francis George (Frank) Downing (7 March 1907 – 22 December 1978) was an Australian politician and an ALP member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1953 until 1968. . Downing was born in Tumut, New South Wales and was the ...

into a runoff. Hagan held off Downing by a margin of 53-47%. In the general election, he faced his first Republican opponent, Porter Carswell (1904–?) of Burke County, who held Hagan to a 58–42% margin. In 1968, he would face desultory opposition in the primary and defeated Savannah Republican State Senator and former

Georgia Republican Party The Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Georgia and one of the two major political parties. It is currently the dominant party in the state and is chaired by Joshua McKoon. Current ...

chairman

Joseph Tribble Joseph James Tribble (August 30, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American politician who served in the Georgia State Senate. Tribble is notable for being one of the first Republicans elected from Chatham County in the 20th century. Early life ...

by a 68–32% margin. He would dispatch another challenger in the 1970 Democratic primary by 2-to-1 and faced no Republican in the general election. In 1972, former Hagan staffer and assistant

Ronald 'Bo' Ginn :Not related to ''David 'Bo' Ginn'', member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1980 to 1988. Ronald Bryan "Bo" Ginn, (May 31, 1934 – January 6, 2005) was an American politician who represented Georgia's 1st congressional district in the Unit ...

would aggressively challenge his former boss in a spirited three-man primary. Holding Hagan to a 43-39% margin in the first round, Ginn would defeat Hagan by a margin of 55–45% in the runoff. Ginn would go on to win the general unopposed.

Later years

Hagan retired from active politics and returned to Sylvania and remained there until his death on December 26, 1990.

References