AJC ELECTION CENTRAL
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The Republican primary runoff for U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey’s seat will pit a fiery former congressman who sought President Bill Clinton’s impeachment against a strict constitutionalist and former state lawmaker with tea party backing.
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr and former state Sen. Barry Loudermilk were the top two vote-getters Tuesday in the six-way race for the Republican nomination. Neither got more than 50 percent of the vote, so they must compete in the July 22 runoff for the 11th Congressional District, which covers all of Bartow and Cherokee counties and parts of Cobb and Fulton counties.
Both candidates started trading barbs Wednesday, indicating the race will be confrontational. Whoever wins will head to Washington, as no Democrats have qualified to get on the ballot. Gingrey lost in Tuesday night’s GOP primary for Saxby Chambliss’ U.S. Senate seat.
The contest for Gingrey’s seat is among several Georgia congressional primaries that were not decided Tuesday night. Candidates in the 1st and 10th districts are also now gearing up for runoffs.
Loudermilk said he exceeded his own expectations in Tuesday’s primary. In March, his campaign’s internal polling showed him in a dead heat with Barr. But Loudermilk bested the former congressman Tuesday night, winning 37 percent of the vote to Barr’s 26 percent.
Loudermilk handily won his home county — Bartow — and Cherokee County. And he fell just shy of tying Barr on the congressman’s home turf of Cobb County.
Loudermilk attributed his success to his message of “consistent conservatism.” That could be seen as a jab at Barr, who has come under criticism from Loudermilk’s campaign for endorsing Eric Holder for attorney general in 2009. Barr called for Holder’s resignation’s last year.
“The results today are indicative of where the people are,” Loudermilk said late Tuesday night after the primary results were becoming clearer. “They are looking for consistency. And I think we bring that to the table. This is a very conservative district. And I have got a very consistent, conservative record.”
Loudermilk wants to repeal Obamacare, shut down the Internal Revenue Service, revamp the tax system, protect gun rights and push for a “strict adherence to the original intent of the Constitution.” A small-business owner, Loudermilk started Firm Reliance, which teaches about constitutional principles. He has picked up endorsements from several tea party groups, including FreedomWorks, a Washington-based organization that recruits and trains tea party activists.
A former federal prosecutor, Barr is well known for helping lead impeachment proceedings against Clinton and for his unsuccessful campaign for president in 2008 as a Libertarian. He has repeatedly highlighted his four terms in Congress, once describing the GOP primary as a contest between the “want-to-dos” and the “have-dones.”
He repeatedly talks about shrinking the size, scope, cost and power of the government. In an interview Wednesday morning, Barr said he will reach out to tea party groups, business leaders and other voters across the district while continuing to underscore his experience in Washington.
“I have the track record of actually having moved the conservative agenda forward,” Barr said in an interview Wednesday morning. “Nobody really wants somebody up in Washington who simply talks a good game but doesn’t have the ability and the experience to actually move that agenda forward on behalf of the people and the businesses in the district.”
Barr issued a news release later Wednesday vowing to run a positive campaign while accusing Loudermilk of being “focused on politics as usual and negative attacks.”
Loudermilk spokesman Dan McLagan responded in an email: “So, Barr’s first release of the runoff is to attack Barry and call him negative? We haven’t said anything — we may have been about to compliment his cat. Anyway, Bob thinks a discussion of his record is negative and that says something about his record.”
In the 1st District, state Sen. Buddy Carter of Pooler is competing in a runoff in the GOP primary with runner-up Bob Johnson, a surgeon and retired U.S. Army Ranger from Savannah. In the Democratic primary, Amy Tavio, a Realtor from Richmond Hill, advanced to a runoff with Brian Reese, a UPS managing partner from Savannah. The candidates are competing to replace U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, who is locked in a GOP runoff for Chambliss’ Senate seat.
In the 10th District, Jody Hice, a minister and conservative radio talk show host from Monroe, and Mike Collins, a trucking company executive from Jackson, got the most votes in the seven-way GOP race to replace U.S. Rep. Paul Broun. Broun unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate. The winner of Collins and Hice’s runoff will face Democrat Ken Dious, an Athens attorney, in November in the overwhelmingly Republican district.
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