All six Georgia congressmen who faced primary challenges appeared as though they would survive those contests despite this year's record-low approval ratings for the 112th Congress, preliminary voting results showed Tuesday.
The incumbents touted their experience, saying their years in Congress will serve them well as they work in a bitterly divided atmosphere to boost the economy and trim the nation's deficit. Their challengers argued they are part of a dysfunctional, do-nothing Congress and that it is time to clean house.
A Gallup poll from February showed a record-low 10 percent of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, down from 13 percent in January and the previous low of 11 percent from December.
Among those who appeared to easily survive the primaries Tuesday is Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta. He was facing Michael Johnson, a former Fulton County Superior Court judge, in Lewis' first Democratic primary challenge since 2008.
"The people today gave me a mandate to go back to Washington and to fight for what is right and what is fair and what is just," said Lewis, who will face Republican Howard Stopeck, a retired attorney, in the Nov. 6 general election.
Here are the preliminary results from other contested congressional primaries:
District 1: Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Savannah, had no primary challenge. Lesli Messinger was leading Nathan Russo in the Democratic primary Tuesday night to face Kingston in the Nov. 6 general election.
District 2: Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, also faced no primary challenge. Rick Allen and John House appeared headed toward a runoff in the Republican primary, with Ken DeLoach placing third.
District 3: Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Coweta County, appeared to easily prevail against two Republican primary challengers, Chip Flanegan and Kent Kingsley.
District 4: Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia, appeared to beat two opponents in his Democratic primary, Courtney Dillard and Lincoln Nunnally. Johnson must now defend his seat against the winner of the Republican primary. Chris Vaughn was leading Greg Pallen in that GOP contest.
District 6: Jeff Kazanow was leading Robert Montigel in the Democratic primary to face Rep. Tom Price, R-Roswell, in November.
District 7: Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville, appeared to turn back a GOP primary challenge from David Hancock. Woodall would face Democrat Steve Reilly, an attorney, in November.
District 10: Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, appeared to prevail in a spirited primary contest against Stephen Simpson.
District 11: Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Marietta, appeared to defeat two GOP primary challengers, William Llop and Michael Opitz. Gingrey would face Democrat Patrick Thompson in the Nov. 6 election.
District 12: Lee Anderson and Rick Allen appeared headed toward a runoff in the GOP primary race to face Rep. John Barrow, D-Augusta, in the November general election. Wright McLeod and Maria Sheffield were in third and fourth place in the GOP contest, respectively.
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