On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss brought his well-funded Republican re-election train to the state Capitol.

Meanwhile, Atlanta lawyer Jim Martin became the sixth Democrat to enter the race against Chambliss and promised to focus on the incumbent's "uncritical" support of the conflict.

Elissa Eubanks/AJC (ENLARGE)

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who spoke Wednesday at the state Capitol, said he welcomes discussion from Democrats on Iraq.

(ENLARGE)

Lawyer Jim Martin is the sixth Democrat to enter the race against Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

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"We need a senator in Washington who answers to Georgians and not to George Bush and Dick Cheney 92 percent of the time," Martin, a Vietnam vet, said Wednesday in a news release announcing his candidacy.

Despite his late entry, Martin's candidacy is significant: He is the only Democrat with experience in running a statewide race, an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor in 2006.

A former state legislator, the 62-year-old Martin had been courted heavily by strategists in Washington eager to test the limits of a Democratic surge in November.

But Chambliss reports $4.4 million on hand for the race. And at his Capitol rally, a large turnout of the state's GOP leadership in Congress and in Georgia demonstrated how determined Republicans are to defend the Senate seat.

Chambliss said discussion of the Iraq war would work to his advantage.

"I think Republicans are going to get a boost by standing by the president and supporting the policies in the war on terrorism," the senator said. "It happens to be focused on Iraq today, but things in Iraq have improved dramatically."

About Martin, Chambliss said: "He's a nice man. I know him well. His views are entirely different from mine on that issue [of the war in Iraq]. And if that's the issue he wants to talk about — at the end of the day, if he's the nominee — we'll see about it."

Five Democrats already are in the race: former television journalist Dale Cardwell, DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, ecologist Rand Knight, Statesboro businessman Josh Lanier and Rockdale County teacher Maggie Martinez.

Jones has raised the largest amount of cash among the Democrats and reported $268,830 on hand as of Dec. 31, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Martin enters the race with the endorsement of several Democratic heavyweights, including former Gov. Roy Barnes.

But African-American lawmakers at the state Capitol have been hesitant to back Martin, who is white, against Jones, who is African-American. Some of them pointed to the criticism that Rep. John Lewis had to endure when he endorsed Hillary Clinton for president over Barack Obama.

"He's called me. We have not talked yet," said state Rep. Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus), who is African-American and chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Smyre said he is uncommitted in the U.S. Senate race, as of now.

State Rep. Bob Holmes (D-Atlanta) was the only black lawmaker listed as a supporter in Martin's announcement.

"Vernon has done a lot of good things over in DeKalb, but I haven't seen indication of him having a statewide constituency," Holmes said. "I would have expected to see his fund-raising and polling look better than what it looks to be."

And if Obama becomes the party's nominee for president, Holmes said, Georgia Democrats might need a candidate who could appeal to disaffected white independent voters.

"I frankly think that Jim has some of the qualities and appeal that would make him a statewide candidate," Holmes said.

Efforts to obtain comment Wednesday from the Jones campaign were unsuccessful.