Primaries Decided in Georgia, North Carolina
Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2004 1:46 am
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,126389,00.html
ATLANTA — Rep. Johnny Isakson (search), a veteran politician who took Newt Gingrich's (search) old seat in Congress, won the Republican primary Tuesday to succeed maverick Democratic Sen. Zell Miller (search), whose retirement has given the GOP an excellent opportunity to pick up a Senate seat in right-leaning Georgia.
Isakson will be the immediate front-runner in November against either freshman Rep. Denise Majette (search) or businessman Cliff Oxford (search), who will face each other in a runoff in three weeks after finishing one-two in the Democratic primary.
In North Carolina, former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles (search) faced no opposition and five-term GOP Rep. Richard Burr (search) cruised to the nomination in the race for Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards' (search) Senate seat. Two Republicans advanced to a runoff to face Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who easily won his primary.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Isakson had 310,450 votes, or 53 percent, followed by former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who had 155,660 votes, or 27 percent. Six-term Rep. Mac Collins was in third with 20 percent.
On the Democratic side, Majette had 224,519 votes, or 40 percent, compared with 116,638 votes, or 21 percent, for Oxford, who was recruited for the primary by former President Carter.
Majette and Oxford will meet in an Aug. 10 runoff because neither received 50 percent of the vote. In North Carolina, the threshold was 40 percent.
Democrats dominated Georgia until 2002, when Sonny Perdue became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Republican Saxby Chambliss defeated Democratic Sen. Max Cleland that same year.
Miller, a 72-year-old former governor who was appointed after GOP Sen. Paul Coverdell died in 2000, in many ways symbolizes the state's shift to the right: He often votes with Republicans, strongly backs President Bush, and is even scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Cain was only the second black since Reconstruction to run for a top state office in Georgia as a Republican. His rock-ribbed conservative message and impassioned delivery style wowed audiences, but it was not enough against Isakson, a longtime legislator who lost the 1990 governor's race to Miller.
Introduced for a victory speech by Perdue, Isakson, 59, moved to unify his party, calling his challengers "two great Georgians who have run a great race" and proclaiming his party the new majority party in Georgia.
The door is open this year for Republicans to make gains in the South. John Breaux of Louisiana, Bob Graham of Florida, and Fritz Hollings of South Carolina are other Democrats who are leaving the Senate. Republicans control the Senate 51-48, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
Oxford said he did not view his second-place finish as a setback, though he easily outspent Majette. "When we started two months ago we were at 1 percent. To climb this fast is ahead of our expectations," he said.
In a Georgia congressional primary, former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a firebrand who lost her House seat two years ago to Majette in a backlash spawned by her incendiary remarks about President Bush, was trying to win her old seat back in an Atlanta suburb. With 98 percent of the vote counted, she led five other Democrats with 51 percent of the vote.
North Carolina had a full slate of races, including a special election to fill the remainder of the term of former Democratic Rep. Frank Ballance, who resigned for what he said were health reasons but also was under investigation over the handling of funds at a foundation he started. Democrat G.K. Butterfield, a former state Supreme Court Justice, easily won the election and takes office immediately.
Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot and former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine were the top two vote-getters in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, with each capturing about 30 percent of the vote. They are headed for an Aug. 17 runoff.
"After all the numbers are in, we can all celebrate together," Ballantine told supporters. "I want to carry the banner for the Republican Party and win this runoff election."
House co-Speaker Richard Morgan survived a tough GOP primary battle that highlighted a feud that has split the state party. Conservatives said Morgan sold out to broker a power-sharing agreement with Democrats that made him co-speaker.
ATLANTA — Rep. Johnny Isakson (search), a veteran politician who took Newt Gingrich's (search) old seat in Congress, won the Republican primary Tuesday to succeed maverick Democratic Sen. Zell Miller (search), whose retirement has given the GOP an excellent opportunity to pick up a Senate seat in right-leaning Georgia.
Isakson will be the immediate front-runner in November against either freshman Rep. Denise Majette (search) or businessman Cliff Oxford (search), who will face each other in a runoff in three weeks after finishing one-two in the Democratic primary.
In North Carolina, former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles (search) faced no opposition and five-term GOP Rep. Richard Burr (search) cruised to the nomination in the race for Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards' (search) Senate seat. Two Republicans advanced to a runoff to face Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who easily won his primary.
With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Isakson had 310,450 votes, or 53 percent, followed by former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who had 155,660 votes, or 27 percent. Six-term Rep. Mac Collins was in third with 20 percent.
On the Democratic side, Majette had 224,519 votes, or 40 percent, compared with 116,638 votes, or 21 percent, for Oxford, who was recruited for the primary by former President Carter.
Majette and Oxford will meet in an Aug. 10 runoff because neither received 50 percent of the vote. In North Carolina, the threshold was 40 percent.
Democrats dominated Georgia until 2002, when Sonny Perdue became the state's first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Republican Saxby Chambliss defeated Democratic Sen. Max Cleland that same year.
Miller, a 72-year-old former governor who was appointed after GOP Sen. Paul Coverdell died in 2000, in many ways symbolizes the state's shift to the right: He often votes with Republicans, strongly backs President Bush, and is even scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Cain was only the second black since Reconstruction to run for a top state office in Georgia as a Republican. His rock-ribbed conservative message and impassioned delivery style wowed audiences, but it was not enough against Isakson, a longtime legislator who lost the 1990 governor's race to Miller.
Introduced for a victory speech by Perdue, Isakson, 59, moved to unify his party, calling his challengers "two great Georgians who have run a great race" and proclaiming his party the new majority party in Georgia.
The door is open this year for Republicans to make gains in the South. John Breaux of Louisiana, Bob Graham of Florida, and Fritz Hollings of South Carolina are other Democrats who are leaving the Senate. Republicans control the Senate 51-48, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
Oxford said he did not view his second-place finish as a setback, though he easily outspent Majette. "When we started two months ago we were at 1 percent. To climb this fast is ahead of our expectations," he said.
In a Georgia congressional primary, former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a firebrand who lost her House seat two years ago to Majette in a backlash spawned by her incendiary remarks about President Bush, was trying to win her old seat back in an Atlanta suburb. With 98 percent of the vote counted, she led five other Democrats with 51 percent of the vote.
North Carolina had a full slate of races, including a special election to fill the remainder of the term of former Democratic Rep. Frank Ballance, who resigned for what he said were health reasons but also was under investigation over the handling of funds at a foundation he started. Democrat G.K. Butterfield, a former state Supreme Court Justice, easily won the election and takes office immediately.
Former Charlotte Mayor Richard Vinroot and former state Sen. Patrick Ballantine were the top two vote-getters in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, with each capturing about 30 percent of the vote. They are headed for an Aug. 17 runoff.
"After all the numbers are in, we can all celebrate together," Ballantine told supporters. "I want to carry the banner for the Republican Party and win this runoff election."
House co-Speaker Richard Morgan survived a tough GOP primary battle that highlighted a feud that has split the state party. Conservatives said Morgan sold out to broker a power-sharing agreement with Democrats that made him co-speaker.
