"Time" magazine carried a report of some voters with Callaway stickers on their cars voting in the Democratic runoff, presumably for Maddox on the theory that he would be a weaker opponent for Callaway than would have been Arnall. Maddox received 443,055 votes to Arnall's 373,004; one Arnall aide attributed the entire Maddox margin to the Republican crossovers. However, the "Marietta Daily Journal" dismissed the crossovers and speculated that supporters of Jimmy Carter largely backed Maddox. Callaway denied having urged any Republicans to support Maddox: "the losers always blame the other party."