George Elliott Hagan

Who was George Elliott Hagan?

George Elliott Hagan was an American politician, businessman and farmer and a Democrat.

Hagan was born in Sylvania, Georgia and attended the University of Georgia in Athens. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1939 to 1944, resigned from office to join the United States Army as a member of the Signal Corps for two years. Following the war, he was returned to the House in 1946 and served until his election to the Georgia Senate in 1950 where he served for one term, leaving office in 1953.

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.

In 1960, Hagan challenged incumbent Congressman Prince H. Preston, Jr., a noted segregationist in the Democratic primary for Georgia's 1st congressional district. Preston narrowly prevailed in the actual popular vote, 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. Preston would die only a month after the conclusion of his term in early 1973.