Here's a stunner.

Last summer, we told you that Republicans had captured the title of majority party in Georgia, by virtue of the number of GOP ballots cast in the July primary. The numbers were unofficial. The secretary of state's office simply used the total votes cast in the U.S. Senate race in each party.

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As it turns out, that's not the whole story. Not even close.

In the next few days, Secretary of State Cathy Cox will release numbers showing that on July 20 voters requested more Democratic ballots (731,111) than Republican ones (671,961). The numbers are based on ballot counts slowly being assembled from the 159 counties.

For Democrats, the good news is that they're entitled to hold on to their majority-party status, at least until 2006. But there's bad news, too. On the Democratic side of the U.S. Senate race, 625,115 votes were cast. That means nearly 106,000 Democrats — 14 percent of the total — took a look at the eight-candidate field. And passed.

Denise Majette came in first. Cliff Oxford came in second. But None of the Above was a close third — and nearly made the runoff.

Given the current state of the electorate, more than one top Democrat could be administering self-inflicted kicks to the posterior on Tuesday, for not taking the race more seriously.

His key concern: finding a volunteer to tell Oxendine that he's not the chosen one

These days, everybody wants a piece of Sonny Perdue.

First the politicians: We've talked to a half-dozen leading Republicans over the past week or so and all want one thing out of their governor.

They want him to serve as clearinghouse, to winnow the number of ambitious GOP candidates who intend to storm the ballot in '06. These campaigns start next Wednesday, you see.

Those anxious for Perdue's intervention say it would make wiser use of crucial party resources and would put a stopper on the brains that are rapidly being drained from the state Capitol.

The top example is this summer's 6th District congressional primary. Three experienced state senators chased it. Obviously, only one could win. Two sacrificed their Senate careers, in a chamber that's already tapping rookies for committee chairmanships.

In '06, the office expected to attract the most traffic is lieutenant governor, now held by Democrat Mark Taylor, who is looking to upgrade his parking status at Perdue's expense. Among those Republicans looking at the race: state Sens. Tommie Williams, Casey Cagle, Bill Stephens and David Shafer; Mike Beatty, who ran for the office in 2002; Herman Cain, the U.S. Senate candidate; and state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, the only candidate formally entered in the race.

No word on whether the governor will begin a vetting program. His key concern may be locating a volunteer to tell Oxendine that he's not the chosen one.

A refusal to prime the pump sits well politically, but not necessarily in the business community

Then there's the brewing confrontation between Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Georgia business community. The tug-of-war between Michigan and Georgia over a new headquarters for Kmart is only one example. Michigan has offered the discount chain $45 million in incentives. Georgia's package comes to $30 million — and that only after much arm-twisting by the state's top business leaders, we're told.

A study in the works shows that the state's decision to hold back on incentives is affecting its hunt for new jobs. It was to be released at the last meeting of the state board of economic development, chaired by Phil Jacobs, president of BellSouth's Georgia Operations. But now, it's been delayed, we hear.

More mystery out of the 8th District race: The unauthorized premiere of "Dylan's Run" at the Westmoreland campaign office

Steve Johnson called Wednesday from California. He's a movie-maker. In 2002, he was the producer of an indy film that tracked the political prospects of a young, photogenic African-American seeking a congressional seat — as a Republican. That was in 1998 and 2000, during Dylan Glenn's two tries against Sanford Bishop down in south Georgia.

Through google.com, Johnson had just found out that — during the summer primary — Republican Lynn Westmoreland had grabbed frames from "Dylan's Run" and used them in a racially tinged attack ad.

Here's what's unusual: The documentary has never been seen publicly. Not in a movie house, not on cable TV, not through mail-order. Johnson said only 20 or so DVDs have been let out of his office, for film festival entries and such. "How [Westmoreland] got hold of one is beyond me," Johnson said.

Westmoreland doesn't strike us as the film-festival type. His campaign reports the DVD came to them through the mail — anonymously, we presume.

Johnson says he doesn't care how Westmoreland got a copy of the film. He's already summoned the lawyers. "The first thing we're going to do is figure out what we can do legally," he said.