United States Senate election in Georgia, 2008

2008 General elections will be held on November 4. Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, first elected in 2002, is seeking re-election to his position as a United States Senator from Georgia.

The General Primary was held July 15, 2008. [ [http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_0715/ Unofficial And Incomplete Results of the Tuesday, July 15, 2008 General Primary Election] "Georgia Secretary of State"] A run-off between the top two Democrat contenders was held on August 5, in which Jim Martin defeated Vernon Jones. [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002934958]

"CQ Politics" rates this race as 'Leans Republican'. [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate Race Ratings Chart: Senate] "CQ Politics"] "The Cook Political Report" considers it 'Lean Republican'. [ [http://www.cookpolitical.com/charts/senate/raceratings_2008-10-09_12-20-35.php 2008 Senate Race Ratings] "The Cook Political Report", October 9, 2008] "The Rothenberg Political Report" considers it a 'Safe Republican'. [ [http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2008/09/2008-senate-ratings_29.html 2008 Senate Ratings] "The Rothenberg Political Report", September 29, 2008]

Candidates

Republican Party

* Sen. Saxby Chambliss - Incumbent senator with a 61% approval rating according to a July poll. [ [http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/georgia/election_2008_georgia_senate Election 2008: Georgia Senate] Rasmussen Reports July 21, 2008]

Democratic Party

*Jim Martin - Former State Representative, former State Human Resources Commissioner, Vietnam War veteran, and 2006 nominee for Lt. Governor

Martin had a 47% approval rating according to a July poll. [ [http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_senate_elections/georgia/election_2008_georgia_senate Election 2008: Georgia Senate] Rasmussen Reports July 21, 2008]

Also Ran

*Vernon Jones - CEO of DeKalb County
* Dale Cardwell - TV journalist [cite web |url=http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-blogs/ajc/politicalinsider/entries/2007/06/04/says_cardwell_chambliss_is_a_b.html |title=Says Cardwell: Chambliss is ‘a borrow-and-spend pawn of the special interests']
*Rand Knight - Ecosystem Scientist and Businessman
*Josh Lanier - Vietnam War veteran and former aide to Senator Herman Talmadge

Libertarian Party

*Allen Buckley - Attorney, Accountant, 2004 gubernatorial nominee, and 2006 nominee for Lt. Governor

ocialist Workers Party

*Eleanor Garcia (write-in) - Communist political organizer and frequent candidate

Election dates

The state party primaries were on July 15, 2008 with primary runoff elections on August 5, 2008. The general election will be held on 4 November 2008 and the general election runoff (if necessary) on December 2, 2008. [ [http://www.uselections.com/ga/ga.htm Georgia Elections and Elected Officials] ]

Polling

General Election

Election Results

Republican Primary

Unofficial results [http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_0715/swfed.htm] :Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Saxby Chambliss
votes = 392,928
percentage = 100.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 392,928
percentage = 100.0
change =

Democratic Primary

Unofficial results [http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_0715/swfed.htm] for the first round; as Vernon Jones did not win a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between him and Martin. Martin subsequently won the runoff.

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = "Vernon Jones"
votes = 199,029
percentage = 40.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = "Jim Martin"
votes = 169,640
percentage = 34.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Dale Cardwell
votes = 79,183
percentage = 16.1
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Rand Knight
votes = 25,670
percentage = 5.2
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Josh Lanier
votes = 19,721
percentage = 4.0
change = Election box turnout
votes = 493,243
percentage = 100.0
change =

Runoff results (with 98% reporting) [http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/election_results/2008_0805/00302.htm] :

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Jim Martin
votes = 188,137
percentage = 59.8
change = +25.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Vernon Jones
votes = 126,425
percentage = 40.2
change = -0.2

Election box turnout
votes = 314,562
percentage =
change =

General Election

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Saxby Chambliss
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Jim Martin
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Allen Buckley
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Workers Party (United States)
candidate = Eleanor Garcia (write-in)
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate
party = Write-in
candidate = William Salomone, Jr.
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box majority
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =

References

External links

* [http://www.sos.ga.gov/elections/ Elections Division] from the "Georgia Secretary of State"
* [http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=GA&go33.x=13&go33.y=10 U.S. Congress candidates for Georgia] at Project Vote Smart
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=senate-GA Georgia, U.S. Senate] from CQ Politics
* [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=6996 Georgia U.S. Senate] from "OurCampaigns.com"
* [http://www.2008racetracker.com/page/GA-Sen Georgia U.S. Senate race] from "2008 Race Tracker"
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/races/election.php?state=GA Campaign contributions for Georgia congressional races] from OpenSecrets.org
*"Official campaign websites"
** [http://www.saxby.org/ Saxby Chambliss] , Republican incumbent
** [http://www.dale08.com/ Dale Cardwell] , Democratic candidate
** [http://www.vernonjonesforgeorgia.com/ Vernon Jones] , Democratic candidate
** [http://www.knightforsenate.com/ Rand Knight] , Democratic candidate
** [http://www.friendsofjoshlanier.com/ Josh Lanier] , Democratic candidate
** [http://www.maggieforcongress.com/ Maggie Martinez] , Democratic candidate
** [http://www.martinforsenate.com/ Jim Martin] , Democratic candidate
** [http://buckleyforsenate.com/ Allen Buckley] , Libertarian candidate