Changes

On election night, disgruntled Thompson supporters attacked chairman Shaw at the candidate's state headquarters in Atlanta. Shaw, who denied that he had ever undermined Thompson's candidacy and had indeed voted for him, sustained a deep gash in his forehead. Thompson said that he would "reconstruct" the GOP, vowed to tour the state to revive the party's sagging fortunes, but he never did so. Thompson did work to replace Shaw as chairman with [[Mack Mattingly]], who six years later in 1980 would win election to the U.S. Senate from Georgia in the same election in which the state voted once again for Jimmy Carter as president, rather than the national winner, Ronald Reagan.<ref>Selby McCash, "Revamp of Party Vowed by Mayor," ''Macon Telegraph,'' November 6, 1974, p. A1; McCash, "Thompson Plans," p. 1; Moore, Thesis, p. 128.</ref>

On election night, disgruntled Thompson supporters attacked chairman Shaw at the candidate's state headquarters in Atlanta. Shaw, who denied that he had ever undermined Thompson's candidacy and had indeed voted for him, sustained a deep gash in his forehead. Thompson said that he would "reconstruct" the GOP, vowed to tour the state to revive the party's sagging fortunes, but he never did so. Thompson did work to replace Shaw as chairman with [[Mack Mattingly]], who six years later in 1980 would win election to the U.S. Senate from Georgia in the same election in which the state voted once again for Jimmy Carter as president, rather than the national winner, Ronald Reagan.<ref>Selby McCash, "Revamp of Party Vowed by Mayor," ''Macon Telegraph,'' November 6, 1974, p. A1; McCash, "Thompson Plans," p. 1; Moore, Thesis, p. 128.</ref>

Thompson's defeat may have contributed to the loss of five Republican seats in the state legislature, as the GOP numbers fell from twenty-nine to twenty-four. In addition, the defeat of conservative Republican U.S. Representative [[Ben Blackburn]] by Democat [[Elliot Levitas]] in the Atlanta suburbs made the Georgia congressional delegate once again all-Democratic, as it had been prior to 1965.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=FiRbQYoZtv0C&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Ronnie+Thompson+(Macon,+Georgia)+&source=web&ots=4hgVyttuXS&sig=9s_rGFItLI_uxkmWIFy6z-uuuQA&hl=en</ref>

Thompson's defeat may have contributed to the loss of five Republican seats in the state legislature, as the GOP numbers fell from twenty-nine to twenty-four. In addition, the defeat of conservative Republican U.S. Representative [[Ben Blackburn]] by Democat Elliot Levitas in the Atlanta suburbs made the Georgia congressional delegate once again all-Democratic, as it had been prior to 1965.<ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=FiRbQYoZtv0C&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Ronnie+Thompson+(Macon,+Georgia)+&source=web&ots=4hgVyttuXS&sig=9s_rGFItLI_uxkmWIFy6z-uuuQA&hl=en</ref>

==A Democrat succeeds Thompson==

==A Democrat succeeds Thompson==