2008 SENATE RUNOFF: Chambliss wins one for the party

Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss beat back a prolonged challenge from Democrat Jim Martin on Tuesday to win a second term in office after a bruising four-week runoff between the one-time University of Georgia fraternity brothers.

Chambliss’ double-digit victory dashed Democrats’ dreams of securing a filibuster-proof, 60-vote “supermajority” in the Senate and buoyed a Republican Party battered by staggering losses in the Nov. 4 general election.

“Republicans still know how to win an election,” Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan told hundreds of Chambliss supporters at the Cobb Energy Centre.

Chambliss said GOP volunteers from 43 states came to Georgia to assist his runoff bid, licking envelopes, calling voters and knocking on doors to get voters back to the polls.

“You’re the reason this happened,” the 65-year-old Moultrie lawmaker told cheering supporters. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Martin, 63, called Chambliss to concede at 9:45 p.m. and addressed his supporters 15 minutes later at the Park Tavern.

“Tonight the voters of Georgia have spoken,” Martin, an Atlanta attorney, told his supporters. “I accept that decision.”

Anna Beck, 25, of Atlanta, who worked for the Martin campaign as deputy finance director, seemed to sense the inevitable after major news organizations began to call the race at 9 p.m.

“I’m sorry for the turnout. I wish it could have been higher. [But] I don’t know what we could have done differently,” Beck said.

Chambliss and Martin —- Sigma Chi frat brothers in the 1960s —- faced off in a race that became the focus of U.S. politics in the wake of the Nov. 4 general election.

Despite the gravity of the race and the media attention focused on the two candidates, turnout appeared to be just over half what it was in the general election.

The Chambliss win was a major save for Republicans, who watched their political fortunes wither on Nov. 4. A Martin victory would have been another setback for the GOP, which threw a small army of its political stars, volunteers and millions of dollars into the race.

Chambliss’ victory means Republicans now will have at least 41 votes in the upper chamber, enough to stop major legislative initiatives by the Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress. Only the Senate race in Minnesota, where a recount is ongoing, still must be decided.

During the runoff, Republicans painted Chambliss as a “firewall,” the “last man standing” to prevent what they contend would have been Democratic excesses. Democrats touted Martin as the man who would provide a “bridge” to the change promised by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama tiptoed into the race, but never became fully involved. He recorded a radio ad for Martin and an automated “robo” call, but declined an invitation to come to Georgia and campaign for his fellow Democrat. Many of his campaign volunteers came to Georgia to help the Martin effort.

Big-name politicos also flocked to the state to stump for the two candidates. Former President Bill Clinton came for Martin as did former Vice President Al Gore.

Former GOP presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) came to the state for Chambliss as did McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Keith Miller, 31, volunteered for Chambliss the last two weeks and came to the Cobb Energy Centre for the election results.

“I’ve always identified myself with Saxby and his conservative values —- the Fair Tax and he’s pro-life,” said Miller, a mental health counselor who lives near Buford. “Because the Democrats might obtain a filibuster-proof majority I felt an extra urgency.”

He volunteered for Chambliss, making phone calls last week.

Saxby Chambliss’ mother, 91-year-old Emma B. Chambliss, came to her son’s victory celebration. She couldn’t vote for him, though. She moved from Saluda, N.C., to Roswell just two months ago and missed the deadline for voter registration in Georgia.

“No, I didn’t get here in time,” she said. “I was disgusted, disgusted,” she said, shaking her head.

Much of the money that poured into Georgia was spent on a barrage of televised attack ads, which were still being aired as voters headed to the polls.

The Chambliss-Martin runoff was a surprise to many. Chambliss had a strong lead in the polls until the economy tanked in September and the first-term senator backed a controversial $700 billion financial rescue package. Neither Chambliss nor Martin got a majority of the vote Nov. 4 in their Senate battle with Libertarian Allen Buckley. That set up a runoff between the two top vote-getters.

Both campaigns knew turnout was the key to a win, and both worked hard to get campaign-weary voters to the polls after the Thanksgiving holiday. Both Martin and Chambliss put hundreds of volunteers on the ground to call and visit potential voters and get them to vote.

Chambliss first won election to the Senate in 2002, defeating former Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Cleland. Chambliss had served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before that win.

Staff writers Aaron Gould Sheinin and Mary Lou Pickel contributed to this report.

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Democrats in the Senate were hoping to claim 60 seats —- enough to overcome the 60-vote threshold needed to move legislation to the floor for an up-or-down vote and avoid the complications of filibuster threats. Saxby Chambliss’ victory preserved that GOP firewall and took away some of the drama from the only remaining Senate race to be called: Minnesota’s, which is in the midst of an extended recount.

BALANCE OF POWER

Makeup, as of Tuesday, of the new Senate, convening in January:

> 56 Democrats (assuming Democrats will be appointed to replace Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton)

> 41 Republicans, including Chambliss

> 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats

> 1 seat undecided (Minnesota)

Totals

> 58 Democrats or voting with Democrats

> 41 Republicans

> 1 to be determined

WHAT’S UP IN MINNESOTA?

Amid millions of ballots cast Nov. 4, Democrat Al Franken finished a few hundred votes shy of Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. A hand recount is being conducted as the two argue over whether and how to count a crucial handful of votes: rejected absentee ballots and provisional ballots given to those whose registration status was in dispute. It is unlikely the race will be decided before late December, and a court battle may follow.