Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Georgia Senate race could go to December

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Andre at Georgia Poltics Unfiltered brings up a great point:

It takes 50% plus one to win an election in Georgia.
...
After Wyche Fowler was defeated by Paul Coverdell in 1992, the Democratic-led Georgia General Assembly lowered the threshold for electoral victory to a plurality rather than a majority. In 2005, the Republican-led General Assembly changed it back to a majority, 50% plus one, to win.

If Saxby Chambliss is denied a majority of the vote in a couple weeks (and several polls suggest that he will be), then a run-off election will be held on December 2nd.

Now imagine, for a second, what might happen if the Democrats' filibuster-proof U.S. Senate hinges on Jim Martin winning a December run-off. I suspect that money would begin pouring in from across the nation and you'd see high-profile surrogates such as Max Cleland, Virginia Senator Jim Webb and other moderate-to-conservative Democrats hitting the campaign trail in Georgia.

Of course, the goal is for Jim Martin to win without a run-off. But if Saxby Chambliss is forced into one, he's a dead duck (figuratively speaking of course).
I think a runoff would be bad for Martin. Right now the money for GOP candidates is stretched thin. But with one Senate race to worry about, both sides will have way more than enough money, and the GOP will use that money in the worst way possible - we've seen it before in Georgia. Let's hope Martin wins it two weeks from today. Help him out.