THE LEGISLATURE: GOP fends off tilt toward Democrats

Georgia voters didn’t appear to be in the mood to make many changes at the Statehouse on Tuesday.

A few incumbents lost or looked as if they were headed for defeat, including Rep. Jeanette Jamieson of Toccoa, one of the longest-serving Democrats in the House.

Jamieson, an accountant and tax preparer who has served in the House since 1985, was hurt by reports earlier this year that she owed more than $45,000 in back state taxes. With nearly all the votes counted Tuesday night, Jamieson was far behind Republican Michael Harden, a Toccoa business owner.

Another North Georgia Democrat, Rep. Charles Jenkins (D-Blairsville), appeared to lose a close race with Blairsville attorney Stephen Allison. A few House Republicans were in tight races as well.

However, it appeared as if all the state senators in contested races won re-election, most of them easily. And the Obama surge Democrats had hoped for probably didn’t make a dent in the GOP’s dominance in either chamber.

Republicans won the state House in the 2004 elections, and they went into Tuesday’s election with a 107-73 majority. They had a 34-22 lead in the state Senate, which the GOP first captured after the 2002 elections.

Most of the pre-election buzz had been in the House because the results could have impacted who leads the chamber during the 2009 session.

Six days after Tuesday’s election, on Nov. 10, House Republicans will pick their leadership team. House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), a mercurial leader who has publicly feuded with Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and GOP Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, is being challenged in that election. His opponent in the speaker’s contest is Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge).

Neither Richardson nor Ralston had opposition in Tuesday’s general election. But Ralston probably would have stood a better chance of making an argument to replace Richardson if House Republicans had lost significant ground Tuesday.

Richardson worked hard to make sure that didn’t happen.

He campaigned tirelessly for Republican House candidates. He used his campaign account, well-stocked with special-interest contributions, to help GOP hopefuls as well. As of Oct. 25, he had given the state GOP $175,000 and had contributed about $80,000 directly to candidates.

However, Perdue and Richardson didn’t help the Republicans’ cause by raising the possibility, before the election, of eliminating a $428 million a year homeowners’ relief grant.

Because the state faces a billion-dollar budget shortfall, Perdue withheld the grants, which are passed on to homeowners and provide a $200 to $300 or so credit on their property tax bill. Less than two weeks before the election, Richardson told reporters the grants would probably be phased out or eliminated next year.

Even before the comments, Democratic candidates had been hammering Republicans on the issue.

However, Democrats helped out the Republicans by not running challengers against most GOP incumbents. That guaranteed that, short of a Democratic landslide in Georgia, Republicans would retain control of the statehouse.

Still, closely watched races included:

> Freshman Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome) squeaked by Rome school administrator Bob Puckett Tuesday in a hotly contested Floyd County race.

> Rep. Steve “Thunder” Tumlin (R-Marietta) was neck-and-neck much of the night in his rematch with former Rep. Pat Dooley, a Marietta community volunteer whom he beat in 2004.

> Rep. Allen Freeman (R-Macon) was likewise back and forth, in and out of the lead against former Twiggs County Commission Chairman James A. “Bubber” Epps. The Democrat had a late lead.

> House Appropriations Vice Chairman John Heard (R-Lawrenceville) won a tough race with Democratic lawyer Lee Thompson in a district that has seen a big increase in minority, Democratic-leaning voters.