Graves defeats Hawkins for Congress

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves finally shook former state Sen. Lee Hawkins in Tuesday’s Republican primary runoff for North Georgia's 9th Congressional District, bringing months of bitter and costly campaigning between the two to an end.

Graves beat Hawkins in every county in the district except for Hall. No Democrats have qualified to get on the Nov. 2 ballot, so Graves will almost certainly be staying in Congress.

“It has been a long and colorful, spirited campaign,” Graves said. “It is time to bring closure to it. We are certainly humbled that the district has chosen us to represent them and look forward to a good full term ahead."

Hawkins relentlessly attacked Graves' ethics during the campaign, while Graves accused his challenger of slinging mud.

Tuesday was the fourth faceoff between the two. They first battled it out among a field of eight candidates in a May 11 special election to replace Republican Rep. Nathan Deal. Deal resigned after about 18 years in Congress to run for governor. Neither got more than 50 percent of the vote, so Graves and Hawkins competed in a June 8 special election runoff. Graves convincingly won that contest.

Then Graves and Hawkins went head to head in the July 20 GOP primary for the next term in office. Neither collected enough votes to win outright among a crowded field of candidates, setting up Tuesday’s runoff. County officials in the 9th District said the four elections have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Graves, a former state legislator and real estate developer from Ranger, campaigned on his efforts to halt certain federal stimulus funding and scrap the national health care reform legislation. Hawkins, a dentist from Gainesville, touted his experience in the state Senate. He indicated he would stay involved with the issues that were raised during the campaign.

“Those issues are still there," Hawkins said. "Although I may not be working on them from a congressional seat, that doesn’t mean I am going to quit working.”

The 9th District includes parts of Forsyth and Gordon counties, as well as all of 13 other North Georgia counties.

In the GOP runoff in Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, Rob Woodall beat radio talk show host Jody Hice. Woodall is Republican Rep. John Linder’s former chief of staff. Linder, who is retiring after spending about 18 years in Congress, endorsed Woodall for his seat.

Woodall has consistently campaigned on his efforts to replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax, a proposal Linder has championed. The 7th District includes most of Gwinnett County, parts of Forsyth and Newton counties, and all of Barrow and Walton counties.

Woodall said Hice called him and conceded Tuesday night.