2008 United States Senate election in Georgia

2008 United States Senate election in Georgia

← 2002 November 4, 2008 (first round) December 2, 2008 (runoff) 2014 →

Nominee Saxby Chambliss Jim Martin Party Republican Democratic First round 1,867,097 49.76% 1,757,393 46.83% Runoff 1,228,033 57.44% 909,923 42.56%

First round county results Runoff county results Chambliss:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Martin:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Tie:      40–50%

U.S. Senator before election Saxby Chambliss Republican Elected U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss Republican

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v t e

The 2008 United States Senate election in Georgia took place on November 4, 2008. The runoff election took place on December 2, 2008. Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, first elected in 2002, sought re-election to his position as a United States Senator from Georgia. He was challenged by Democratic nominee Jim Martin and Libertarian nominee Allen Buckley. After a runoff election on December 2, Chambliss was elected.^[1][2]

The runoff was necessary as neither Chambliss nor Martin, the two major party candidates, had won a majority of the vote in the first round. Early voting hours were set by county, and started November 17 or November 18. Prior to the runoff, advanced polls were open from November 24 to the 26th.^[3] Since the election was a runoff, only those voters who registered in time for the general election could cast ballots. It was the second Senate runoff election to be held in Georgia since runoffs were first mandated in 1964, following a runoff in 1992.

As of 2023, this remains the only time in history that a Republican has won re-election to Georgia's Class 2 Senate seat.

• Saxby Chambliss, incumbent U.S. Senator

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2008 Georgia U.S. Senate Republican primary election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Saxby Chambliss (incumbent)	392,902	100.0%
Turnout			392,928	100.0%

The general primary was held July 15, 2008.^[4] A run-off between the top two Democratic contenders was held on August 5, in which Jim Martin defeated Vernon Jones.^[5]

• Jim Martin, former State Representative and nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 2006
• Vernon Jones, businessman, DeKalb County chief executive officer and former State Representative
• Dale Cardwell, TV journalist^[6]
• Rand Knight, businessman
• Josh Lanier, Vietnam War veteran and former aide to U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge

Source	Date	Cardwell	Jones	Knight	Lanier	Martin
Strategic Vision (R)[7]	May 9–11, 2008	20%	28%	11%	5%	15%
Insider Advantage[8]	May 12, 2008	14%	21%	1%	5%	3%
Mellman Group (D)[9]	May 29, 2008	7%	16%	2%	3%	21%
Strategic Vision (R)[7]	June 27–29, 2008	22%	25%	14%	6%	17%
Insider Advantage[8]	July 8–9, 2008	11%	20%	4%	1%	31%

Results^[10] for the first round showed that since Vernon Jones did not win a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between him and Martin. Martin subsequently won the runoff.

2008 Georgia U.S. Senate Democratic primary election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Vernon Jones	199,026	40.4%
	Democratic	Jim Martin	169,635	34.4%
	Democratic	Dale Cardwell	79,181	16.1%
	Democratic	Rand Knight	25,667	5.2%
	Democratic	Josh Lanier	19,717	4.0%
Total votes			493,226	100.0%

2008 Georgia U.S. Senate Democratic primary election runoff

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim Martin	191,061	59.9%	+25.5%
	Democratic	Vernon Jones	127,993	40.1%	−0.3%
Total votes			319,054	100.0%

Jim Martin, a former State Representative, former State Human Resources Commissioner, Vietnam War veteran, and 2006 nominee for lieutenant governor, challenged Chambliss for his seat. He made his support for PeachCare and other social services a signature issue in the campaign.^[11]

Allen Buckley - Attorney, accountant, 2004 Senate nominee, and 2006 nominee for lieutenant governor. He was eliminated in the general election, but his endorsement was sought by both the Martin and Chambliss campaigns.^{[citation needed]}

Sen. Saxby Chambliss running for re-election for the first time, is a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and had only one serious election challenge while in the House.^{[12][13][14][15]} He maintained high ratings from conservative interest groups such as the National Rifle Association of America, and the National Right to Life Committee,^[16] and correspondingly low marks from liberal interest groups such as the NAACP and ACLU.^[16] He sponsored legislation while in the Senate to replace the income tax with a national sales tax.^[17]

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[18]	Tossup	October 23, 2008
CQ Politics[19]	Tossup	October 31, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report[20]	Lean R	November 2, 2008
Real Clear Politics[21]	Tossup	November 2, 2008

Source	Date	Chambliss (R)	Martin (D)
Rasmussen Reports[22]	June 26, 2008	52%	39%
Strategic Vision[23]	June 29, 2008	57%	28%
Rasmussen Reports[24]	July 21, 2008	51%	40%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	August 14, 2008	50%	44%
Survey USA[25]	September 14–16, 2008	53%	36%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	September 16, 2008	50%	43%
Survey USA[26]	September 29, 2008	46%	44%
Research 2000[27]	September 29 – October 1, 2008	45%	44%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	October 7, 2008	50%	44%
Insider Advantage[28]	October 9, 2008	45%	45%
Survey USA[29]	October 12, 2008	46%	43%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	October 22, 2008	47%	45%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	October 30, 2008	48%	43%
Survey USA[30]	November 2, 2008	48%	44%
Public Policy Polling[31]	November 2, 2008	48%	46%

Source	Date	Chambliss (R)	Jones (D)
Rasmussen Reports[24]	July 21, 2008	59%	29%
Strategic Vision[23]	June 29, 2008	57%	27%
Rasmussen Reports[22]	June 26, 2008	57%	30%
Strategic Vision[32]	December 12, 2007	57%	27%
Rasmussen Report[33]	November 13, 2007	55%	32%
Rasmussen Report[33]	September 23, 2007	53%	28%
Strategic Vision[34]	June 24, 2007	55%	31%
Rasmussen Report[33]	September 23, 2007	53%	28%
Strategic Vision[34]	June 24, 2007	55%	31%
Insider Advantage[35]	May 23, 2007	48%	31%
Strategic Vision[36]	April 7, 2007	57%	29%

As no candidate reached a majority on November 4, a runoff election was held on December 2, which Chambliss won.

2008 United States Senate general election in Georgia^[37][38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Saxby Chambliss (Incumbent)	1,867,097	49.76%	−3.01%
	Democratic	Jim Martin	1,757,393	46.83%	+0.93%
	Libertarian	Allen Buckley	127,923	3.41%	+2.08%
	Socialist Workers	Eleanor Garcia (write-in)	43	0.00%	n/a
	Independent	William Salomone, Jr. (write-in)	29	0.00%	n/a
Majority			109,704	2.93%	−3.95%
Turnout			3,752,577

• Chambliss (R)
• Martin (D)

Both qualifying candidates' runoff campaigns began in earnest on November 10, when election returns made it clear that a runoff would be required. With an election date of December 2, candidates were given only 3 weeks for additional campaigning.

The Libertarian nominee did not endorse either candidate in the run-off, though both campaigns reportedly inquired about getting Buckley's endorsement.^[39] Major political figures such as former President Bill Clinton, Republican Senator and 2008 presidential nominee John McCain and his former running mate Sarah Palin campaigned in Georgia,^[40] because of the election's potential to determine whether the Democratic Party could block filibusters in the United States Senate. Historically, run-off elections in Georgia have had significantly lower turnout than have general elections.^[41]

Chambliss's campaign verified that former Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Mike Huckabee would be campaigning in Georgia on the Senator's behalf, and former Democratic Governor and former U.S. Senator Zell Miller endorsed Chambliss. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned on Martin's behalf. Sarah Palin campaigned for the Chambliss campaign on December 1, the eve of the run-off election.^[42] President-elect Barack Obama had also been invited by the Democratic campaign but decided against making a stop.^[43]

The results of the runoff election were of particular interest to both parties.^[44] Subsequent to the November 4 general elections, Democrats had captured 58 seats in the Senate, two shy of a filibuster-proof supermajority. The result of Georgia's runoff election, as well as the results of an extremely close race and recount in Minnesota, would determine whether or not the required majority of 60 seats would be met.^[45] Although the Democratic nominee lost the runoff, the party would still obtain a supermajority after Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter switched from the Republican party to the Democratic party in April 2009 and Democrat Al Franken won in Minnesota after several recounts in June 2009.

Source	Date	Chambliss (R)	Martin (D)
Rasmussen Reports[46]	November 18, 2008	50%	46%
Public Policy Polling[47]	November 23, 2008	52%	46%
Public Policy Polling[48]	November 30, 2008	53%	46%

Douglas, Rockdale, Newton, McIntosh, Merriwether, Chattahoochee, Webster, and Marion counties were won by Chambliss in the runoff, after he lost them in the general. Additionally, Mitchell County went from tied to Chambliss, and Early County switched from Chambliss to Martin.

Runoff results^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Saxby Chambliss (Incumbent)	1,228,033	57.44%	N/A
	Democratic	Jim Martin	909,923	42.56%	N/A
Majority			318,110	14.88%
Turnout			2,137,956
	Republican hold		Swing

• Ben Hill (Largest city: Fitzgerald)
• Brooks (Largest city: Quitman)
• Decatur (Largest city: Bainbridge)
• Elbert (Largest city: Elberton)
• Grady (Largest city: Cairo)
• Marion (Largest city: Buena Vista)
• Seminole (Largest city: Donalsonville)
• Taylor (Largest city: Butler)
• Chattahoochee (largest municipality: Cusseta)
• McIntosh (largest municipality: Darien)
• Meriwether (largest municipality: Manchester)
• Mitchell (largest municipality: Camilla)
• Hart (Largest city: Hartwell)
• Long (Largest city: Ludowici)
• Wilkes (Largest city: Washington)
• Webster (largest town: Preston)

• 2008 United States Senate elections

• Elections Division from the Georgia Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Georgia at Project Vote Smart
• Georgia, U.S. Senate from CQ Politics
• Georgia U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Georgia U.S. Senate race from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions for Georgia congressional races from OpenSecrets
• Official campaign websites (Archived)
  • Saxby Chambliss, Republican incumbent nominee
  • Dale Cardwell, Democratic candidate
  • Vernon Jones, Democratic candidate
  • Rand Knight, Democratic candidate
  • Josh Lanier, Democratic candidate
  • Jim Martin, Democratic nominee
  • Allen Buckley, Libertarian nominee