Johnny Isakson, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate
Age: 71
Residence: Marietta
Profession: U.S. senator
Previous experience: Served three terms in the U.S. House; one term in the Georgia Senate; seven terms in the Georgia House, including a stint as minority leader; chairman of the Georgia Board of Education. He worked in real estate before entering politics.
Education: Bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Georgia, 1966.
Political strengths: Isakson is one of the best-known political figures in the state after decades in Georgia politics. His reputation as both the godfather of the state's Republican Party and someone willing to break bread across the aisle if it suits him has won him oodles of goodwill from both parties, as well as a list of bipartisan laws to his name. With a hefty war chest of more than $5.7 million, he has enough money to blanket the state in ads as he sees fit.
Political liabilities: If there's anyone who personifies the establishment in Georgia, it's Isakson. And that could be a problem in this anti-status quo election year. Isakson has backed past trade deals and Donald Trump, two things that could put a major target on his back this year.
Notable endorsements: Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, U.S. Sen. David Perdue
Family: Married; three adult children; nine grandchildren.
In many ways, Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson should have had a crummier 2016 than the one he’s having now.
The incumbent is the definition of the GOP establishment in a cycle where anti-status quo candidates such as Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders excelled. And for a year when voters distanced themselves from Washington and its dealmaking, Isakson proudly stood behind the bipartisan legislation he fought hard to make law.
Yet here Isakson sits in mid-October with a nearly 16-point lead over his closest opponent, according to a polling average calculated by RealClearPolitics.
That reality shows the unique niche Isakson has carved for himself after 40 years in Georgia politics.
It’s one that’s allowed him to endorse Trump but keep him at arm’s distance for the remainder of his campaign, avoiding the shrapnel from the Republican presidential nominee’s contentious comments unlike many of his colleagues.
“I can’t control the media. I can’t control who the presidential candidates are, and I can’t control what people are going to say,” Isakson said during a recent interview. “But I can control me.”
The two-term incumbent would instead rather talk about his work on Capitol Hill shepherding bipartisan legislation helping Peace Corps volunteers, finding money for the victims of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and authoring an overhaul of accountability protocols at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
On the campaign trail, he speaks of the need to step up the country’s attacks against the Islamic State with certain ground forces such as special operations.
“We know where a lot of these ISIL leaders are,” Isakson said in July, using another term for the Islamic State. “It should be untenable for them to continue to exist.”
Isakson’s allies describe him as one of the hardest-working men in Washington. Indeed, he is the only senator to serve as chairman of two committees: the Ethics and Veterans Affairs panels.
And his willingness to cross the aisle has won him plenty of Democratic boosters, including former Gov. Roy Barnes and ex-U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn.
“I’ve always voted for Johnny Isakson. He’s my friend. He’s my partner,” Atlanta Democratic U.S. Rep. David Scott said on WXIA earlier this summer. “And I always look out for my partners.”
Isakson, who announced he suffers from Parkinson’s disease in June 2015, may have the overwhelming advantage when it comes to name recognition, powerful friends and campaign funds. But his biggest challenge may be an enthusiasm gap.
He and his team would very much like to avoid a costly and time-consuming runoff, which occurs if no candidate draws more than 50 percent support. Recent polling averages have put Isakson about 1 percentage point below that benchmark.
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