Big setback for AIPAC and ADL.
Cynthia McKinney -- defeated in a Georgia primary two years ago because of strong Likudnik opposition -- won yesterday's primary for the same seat -- virtually guaranteeing election in November.
The start of a new trend? Let's hope so.
McKinney Storms to Win
by Jim Galloway
Democrat Cynthia McKinney, whose tirades against President Bush helped get her tossed out two years ago, appeared headed back to Washington on Tuesday, while Johnny Isakson cruised to victory without a runoff in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
On the Democratic side of that race, U.S. Rep. Denise Majette led seven contenders but failed in her effort to stay clear of a runoff against millionaire Cliff Oxford, who poured more than $1 million of his own money in the contest.
Cynthia McKinney's campaign manager, Kevin Oliveira, right, and press agent Lisa Smith cheer as they watch fourth Congressional district democratic primary race results on the television in Decatur, Ga., Tuesday, July 20, 2004. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Supreme Court Justice Leah Sears - who next year could become the high court's first female chief justice - was the biggest vote-getter of the night. She easily fended off challenger Grant Brantley, who was backed by Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and religious conservatives, deflecting criticisms of her "activism" and allegations that she looked favorably on gay marriage.
"I think it's a good night for moderation in politics," said Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who countered Perdue's involvement in the Supreme Court race with her support for Sears.
With good weather and a light to medium turnout that state officials said would reach 30 percent, voters also sent at least two of four hotly contested congressional races toward three more weeks of campaigning and an Aug. 10 deciding vote.
In north metro Atlanta's 6th District, state Sens. Tom Price and Robert Lamutt landed in a runoff, as did state Rep. Lynn Westmoreland and Dylan Glenn in the Southside's 8th district.
But it was the likely return of McKinney in the 4th District that represented the starkest shift in Georgia politics. McKinney finished just above the magic 50 percent-plus-one mark. The district has strongly favored Democratic candidates over Republicans in recent years, giving McKinney a substantial edge over Republican Catherine Davis in November.
McKinney ran a low-to-the-ground campaign among the black voters of south DeKalb County - emphasizing her 10 years' experience in Congress rather than a rematch with Bush.
Tuesday night, McKinney called her primary victory "one of the greatest political comebacks in history."
"We've got to make America, America," McKinney told supporters. "We've got to avoid any backsliding on civil rights or human rights. We've got to get our troops out of harm's way. We've got to turn around this Bush economy."
In 2002, McKinney's criticism of Bush and her alliance with Palestinians prompted a heated race in which pro-Arab money flowed McKinney's way and pro-Israel money went to McKinney's opponent, Majette..
"This victory means that her constituents missed her," said Abed Hammoud, president of the Dearborn, Mich.-based Arab-American Political Action Committee. "She is a great lady, and I am delighted she won."
McKinney's resurgence nearly overshadowed Isakson's victory, a comeback from his 1996 defeat for the GOP nomination in the U.S. Senate race, in which a much smaller Republican field of voters declared him too moderate.
Blessed with $5.5 million in campaign cash, the three-term Cobb County congressman rolled past pizza entrepreneur Herman Cain and fellow U.S. Rep. Mac Collins.
The contest may have shown the limit of religious conservative influence over a rapidly growing Republican Party in Georgia. Cain and Collins tried to position themselves to the right of Isakson on abortion, calling him "pro-choice," though he pointed to his mostly anti-abortion record.
Isakson jumped into the race early, within days of Democrat Zell Miller's announcement last year that he would not run again. Isakson raised twice as much money as Cain and nearly three times as much as Collins. A wall of TV advertising and three decades in politics finally paid off.
Cain, 58, of McDonough, the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza, was in a solid second place.
"I'll be back," Cain told several hundred cheering supporters at the Georgian Terrace Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.
For the first time in modern Georgia history, Republicans appeared to have attracted more voters to their side of the primary than Democrats. "We're going to show that the Republican Party has become the majority party in Georgia," Perdue thundered at the Isakson victory party.
The governor did not mention his defeat of the night, the failure of Cobb County attorney Brantley to topple Sears in the Supreme Court race.
The race was nonpartisan, but both Republicans and Democrats were deeply involved in what normally is a largely ignored contest. It was a bitter skirmish in the fight over gay marriage in Georgia, a possible precursor to a referendum in November over a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex unions.
At a meeting of the Georgia Christian Coalition, the governor called on religious conservatives to replace Sears. And Monday, Perdue lent his voice to automated telephone calls pushing Brantley's candidacy.
Sears said her key to victory was the issue of judicial independence. "The people of Georgia are telling us they want judges of high character and integrity and who are free and independent and not beholden to any special interest groups," she said.
In the 6th District, which covers portions of Cobb, Cherokee and north Fulton counties, Price and Lamutt were at the top of a stack of seven GOP candidates. Marietta attorney Chuck Clay was in third place - and out of the picture.
In the 12th District, which runs from Athens to Savannah, Democrat John Barrow was also on the edge of winning without a runoff. The winner of the primary faces Republican incumbent Max Burns.
Staff writers Mae Gentry, James Salzer, Ernie Suggs and Bill Rankin contributed to this article.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
