Veterans vying for Miller seat But no Democrats have entered contest

Dave Williams, Morris News Service

May 25, 2003

ATLANTA -- Delegates jammed the biggest banquet room at the Macon convention center last weekend to hear U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the main breakfast speaker at the state Republican Party's annual get-together.

"We have a new problem at Georgia Republican events:

Everybody can't get in," said Alec Poitevint, the state party's newly elected chairman. "It's a nice problem to have."

The drawing power of GOP officeholders is just one sign of the strength of a party that historically has been the underdog in statewide races.

Georgia Republicans have been on quite a roll for the past two election cycles. In 2000, President Bush easily carried the state with 55 percent of the vote to just 43 percent for Democrat Al Gore.

Then the GOP swept the top of last year's ballot with the election of Sonny Perdue, Georgia's first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and Chambliss' defeat of incumbent Democrat Max Cleland.

It's no wonder the GOP is the early favorite in next year's race to capture Georgia's other Senate seat, being vacated by retiring Democrat Zell Miller. The only candidates formally in the running thus far are Republicans.

But Democrats expect to make a strong bid to defend Miller's seat, said Jeff DeSantis, Georgia's Democratic executive director. With no incumbent seeking re-election, he expects the Georgia contest to attract national attention.

"There's only two open Senate seats in the country at this point," said DeSantis. "I think both parties will be heavily involved."

Two veterans of Georgia's congressional delegation are vying for the Republican nomination.

Rep. Johnny Isakson of Marietta declared his candidacy in January, shortly after Miller announced his departure. Rep. Mac Collins of Hampton joined the race this month.

A third GOP congressman, Jack Kingston of Savannah, is waiting in the wings should one or both of the others falter.

"For right now, I'm going to watch to see how the candidacies develop," Kingston said last week.

Professional mediator Al Bartell of Cartersville, who finished third in last year's Republican gubernatorial primary, has filed papers to seek the Senate seat.

Yet another potential GOP candidate is Atlanta businessman Herman Cain, who has formed an exploratory committee.

On the other hand, no Democrat has entered the contest. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor doesn't appear to be interested, and Secretary of State Cathy Cox has flatly rejected running for the Senate.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said she was considering the race after a women's political group released a poll showing her competitive with Isakson.

And Attorney General Thurbert Baker has shown enough interest to meet with Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, according to a Washington-based publication that covers Congress.

But Baker hasn't decided whether to run, said Clay Seymour, spokesman for Baker's campaign committee.

"He's getting a lot of encouragement from within the state and outside the state," Seymour said. "[But] we're still an attorney general campaign at this point."

Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, said the lack of Democratic candidates in an open statewide race is a major departure, even at this early juncture.

As an example, he cited the 1972 Senate campaign, when more than a dozen Democrats surfaced following the death of longtime Sen. Richard Russell.

"They've got a shorter bench right now, and Democrats may perceive of this as less of a sure thing," Bullock said.

Money also appears to favor the Republicans. Isakson already has about $2.5 million on hand, a huge war chest this early in the race.

Collins only has about $60,000, but his membership on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee -- which writes the tax bills -- gives him easy access to a host of Washington-based political donors.

"Money is a necessary evil to get your message out and identify who you are," Collins said. 'We'll be there."

The Democrats' best chance may be a hard fought Republican primary, the kind of contest that creates factions and leaves hard feelings.

Collins is expected to portray himself as more conservative than Isakson, who has taken moderate stands on abortion and gun control.

But Isakson has compiled a conservative voting record overall. The American Conservative Union gave him a 96 percent rating last year, up from 88 percent in 2001 and 76 percent in 2000.

"I have a conservative record. I let it speak for itself," Isakson said. "I'm not running against . . . somebody's perception."

An emotional fight between Republicans over who's more conservative could play into the Democrats' hands.

"They will have a pretty serious split in that party and spend a lot of money just to see who the nominee is," DeSantis said. "We [Democrats] are trying to coordinate things so we don't have a divisive primary."

But Poitevint said the state Republicans' recent track record shows an ability to weather primaries without ill aftereffects. He cited Perdue and Chambliss as GOP candidates who were able to defeat serious primary opposition and go on to win in November.

"If they make [the primary] a civil affair and stay united, they ought to be in good shape," Bullock said.