Former Governor Ernest Vandiver was considered the favorite to return to his former job, but he dropped out of the race because of health problems. That opened the door for former Governor Ellis Arnall, former Lieutenant Governor Garland T. Byrd, state SenatorJimmy Carter, and two segregationist businessmen, Lester Maddox and James H. Gray, Sr., to run for the Democratic nomination. Gray, a Massachusetts native, publisher of the Albany Herald and founder of what is now Gray Television, was a former Georgia Democratic state chairman who defended segregation in his northern accent before the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. In the primary race, Maddox had often called upon Gray to leave the race, having said that his opponent was "going down like the Titanic". Gray remained in the race and finished fourth in the primary. He declared neutrality in the Maddox-Arnall runoff election, not openly supporting either candidate. However, one of Gray's associates, Roy V. Harris of Augusta, a member of the Georgia StateBoard of Regents, supported Maddox over Arnall. Gray supporters attempted to entice Maddox to leave the race with a $100,000 payment. Gray denied involvement in the scheme but would not, on Maddox's request, take a lie detector test.
The Republican nominee was U.S. Representative Howard "Bo" Callaway. He was the first Republican Representative from Georgia since Reconstruction. No other Republicans sought down-ballot constitutional offices. State Senator Holden Eugene "Gene" Sanders of DeKalb County, a moderate Republican, sought to run for lieutenant governor, but Callaway said that Sanders did not follow the proper procedures. The Republican strategy was to shun all other statewide races for fear that a full ticket would unify the Democrats. The Atlanta Journal, which ultimately endorsed Callaway, claimed that key Republicans were a clique who hoped to build the party from the governor's office. The Athens Daily News depicted traditional Georgia Republican leaders as "would-be politicians personal property and who made no real effort to expand into a broad-based and effective political organization."
Some people, unhappy with both major nominees, took the "Go Bo" of Callaway's campaign and expanded it to "Go Bo, and take Lester with you". A write-in campaign for Arnall prevented any candidate from winning the majority. Georgia law at the time stipulated that the Georgia General Assembly would select the governor if no candidate received more than 50 percent of the popular vote. The legislature, dominated by Democrats, selected Maddox, although Callaway received a larger portion of the popular vote.
