Callaway was elected to Congress in 1964, becoming the first Republican congressman from Georgia since Reconstruction. He left Congress to run for governor in 1966. Callaway actually received 3,000 more votes than the Democratic nominee, segregationist Lester Maddox, but because former Gov. Ellis Arnall mounted a write-in campaign, no candidate received the majority needed to win. State law at the time did not allow for a general election runoff and instead, the Legislature was allowed to choose the next governor. The Democratic-controlled body backed Maddox. Although he lost, he inspired a generation of young Republicans, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) was 12 in 1966 and told the newspaper he remembered even then the impact Callaway had. <br>Special to the MDJ