 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 to the 92nd United States Congress.