9th Congressional District special election headed for runoff

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tom Graves of the tiny northwest Georgia town of Ranger and Lee Hawkins of Gainesville are headed for a runoff for the 9th Congressional District seat.

With all the precincts reporting Tuesday night, Graves led with about 35.4 percent of the vote to 23.2 percent for Hawkins. The rest were spread among the six other candidates.

Steve Tarvin of Chickamauga, a political newcomer, made a surprising showing, running even with Hawkins until more than 75 percent of the votes were in. Hawkins pulled away on the strength of the voters in his home county of Hall and neighboring Forsyth, the two largest counties in the 15-county district.

Both Graves and Hawkins have served in the state General Assembly, but voters in the conservative district showed a strong streak of mistrust of longtime politicians from the beginning of the campaign.

Al D. Marks, a Republican Party official in Hall County, said people were listening to the candidates and asking, "Do we want to send another career politician up there that may have a lot of favors out there, or do we want someone with a little less experience in Washington but clean?"

But political bases, experience and money finally made the difference.

It was a short campaign, after former Rep. Nathan Deal resigned March 21 to run for governor. The winner will finish Deal’s term, which ends in January, but the feeling of victory might be short-lived.

The six Republican candidates in the special election also qualified for the July primary for the seat's next term, so the winner of the occasionally nasty special election will face another challenge before getting unpacked in Washington. A seventh Republican, who wasn't in the special election, also qualified for the July primary.

If there is a runoff after the July Republican primary, voters could be called to the polls in May, June, July, August and November.

"It will be possible to vote for the same person five times this year," said Rusty Hodges, who lives in Forsyth County near Lake Lanier.

That is, if voters don't get tired of it or if the candidate can't get voters pumped up. Voter turnouts ranged from about 9 percent to 13 percent.

"There has been more talk among the candidates than among the voters about the election," said Bobby Thomas of Cumming.

Thomas said the talk has been "ugly" recently between the campaign's top two competitors, dentist Hawkins and businessman Graves.

Hawkins veered into negative territory, questioning Graves' business practices by noting in ads and on his Web site that a 2007 lawsuit had been filed against Graves. A volunteer leader for Graves also switched allegiance to Hawkins, claiming unspecified unethical conduct and lies by the Graves campaign.

Graves, on the road Tuesday in the spread-out district, said, "The negative campaigning is not something we've seen in other campaigns."

He responded, saying the frivolous suit had been dismissed and charging Hawkins with doctoring the court documents before displaying them on his Web site. He credited the negative tone to Hawkins'  "crumbling campaign."

The other six candidates stuck mostly to meat-and-potatoes campaign points in the district, whose constituents proudly affirm is one of the most conservative in the nation. The candidates spoke against the national health care reform law, abortion and illegal immigration, and for tax cuts, gun rights and family values.

Graves won the Atlanta Tea Party endorsement, though the local Tea Party in Forsyth County would not commit to any candidate. The campaign was seen as a test by some for how much influence the conservative movement might have in coming elections.

Jim Pilgrim, the chairman of the Hall County Republican Party, said before the election, "I wish we could send all of them to Washington. All of them have done an excellent job in campaigning and showing their conserve values."

Hawkins said he was tired after a long campaign across the widespread district.

"It is not only a question of time, because I have been spending the time as a [state] senator. It is also a question of funds," he said.

But after seeing the results Tuesday night, he said he would regather his energy and continue his challenge to Graves through the July primary.