Meet the Candidates: Winners in the Georgia and Alabama congressional primaries [1]
Submitted by Conor Kenny [2] on
Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss [3] will have a few more weeks to cool his heels before Democrats in Georgia [4] nominate a candidate — of the five Democratic candidates running in yesterday's primary, nobody was able to capture more than 50 percent of the vote. That means a runoff will be held on Aug. 5 between Vernon Jones [5] and Jim Martin [6].
Also yesterday, voters whittled down the competition in two Alabama [7] districts, where runoff elections were held for two open seats. Reps. Terry Everett [8] (R) and Bud Cramer [9] (D) had announced their retirement, and primaries were held back in June. However, no Republican candidates in the districts were able to meet the 50-percent threshold required to secure the nomination.
This time around, Jay Love [10], an Alabama state legislator, won the GOP nomination for CD-02, while Wayne Parker [11] (a vice president for an insurance firm) did the same in the 5th district.
As part of Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote [12] project, citizen journalists from around the country (and even some candidates!) have been logging information about the candidates' positions, biographies and records. A full list of the candidates and their professions are below, but you can also find them at their respective state portals via the Wiki the Vote project homepage [12]. We need your help to find out more about these candidates, so if you know something about them please add it to their profile. (You can always contact [13] one of the staff editors for help.)
Here are the victors of Tuesday's primaries:
Georgia [4]
- Sen. Saxby Chambliss [3] (R) is awaiting the results from an August 5th runoff between Democratic candidates Vernon Jones [5] and Jim Martin [6].
- In the 1st district, Republican incumbent Jack Kingston [14] will square off against Democrat Bill Gillespie [15], a retired Lt. Colonel from the Army.
- In the 2nd district, incumbent Sanford Bishop [16] (D) is being challenged by Republican Lee Ferrell [17], an Army veteran.
- In the 3rd district, incumbent Rep. Lynn Westmoreland [18] (R) will face Democrat Stephen Camp [19], a private attorney who owns his own firm.
- In the 4th district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Hank Johnson [20] has no major-party challengers.
- In the 5th district, incumbent Rep. John Lewis [21] (D) is unopposed.
- In the 6th district, incumbent Rep. Tom Price [22] (R) is being challenged by Bill Jones [23], an Air Force veteran who is now the executive vice president of a technology firm.
- In the 7th district, incumbent Rep. John Linder [24] (R) will face off against Democrat Doug Heckman [25], another former soldier who is now managing director of an asset management firm.
- In the 8th district, Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall [26] will be going up against Rick Goddard [27], a vice president of Mercer University.
- In the 9th district, incumbent Rep. Nathan Deal [28] (R) will try to fend off Demoratic candidate Jeff Scott [29], an education specialist.
- In the 10th district, Republican incumbent Rep. Paul Broun [30] will face Bobby Saxon [31] (D), who served the U.S. Army in the Iraq War.
- In the 11th district, incumbent Rep. Phil Gingrey [32] (R) is up against Democrat Bud Gammon [33], a retired Air Force pilot.
- In the 12th district, incumbent Rep. John Barrow [34] (D) is being challenged by Republican John Stone [35], former president of the U.S. Freedom Foundation.
- In the 13th district, incumbent Rep. David Scott [36] (D) will face Republican candidate Deborah Honeycutt [37], a practicing physician.
Alabama [7]
- In the 2nd district, Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright [38] will face Republican nominee Jay Love [10], a state legislator.
- In the 5th congressional district, Parker Griffith [39], a Democratic candidate and Alabama state senator, will challenge insurance company vice president Wayne Parker [11] (R).