Georgia gained two House seats after the 2000 census, but theDemocratic-controlledGeorgia General Assembly wanted to see more Democrats in the congressional delegation. They gerrymandered a map that was designed to elect seven Democrats and six Republicans; the delegation at the time consisted of eight Republicans and three Democrats. Notable differences between the new Congressional districts that were drawn as compared with the previous ones that previously existed were: the Third district, the predecessor of modern Eighth district, was reconfigured to be more neutral than its previous incarnation; the districts of Incumbent RepresentativesJohn Linder (R) andBob Barr (R) were combined into one district (this being the modern Seventh district); and the creation of the Twelfth and Thirteenth districts (each of which were designed to favor Democrats).
Following redistricting as a result of the2000 census, this district, based in southeastern Georgia, maintained its strongly conservative bent, pulling from the conservative suburbs ofSavannah, the social conservatives along the coastline, and stretching into the highly conservativeWarner Robins, where anair force base is located. Incumbent Republican CongressmanJack Kingston ran for a sixth term in Congress, and he won it by crushing Democratic nominee Don Smart in a landslide.
Incumbent Democratic CongressmanSanford Bishop has represented this relatively liberal, southwestern Georgia district since his initial election in1992. Pulling fromValdosta,Albany,Americus and some ofColumbus, this district has a considerableAfrican-American population, which contributed to the district's liberal bent and to Congressman Bishop's continual elections. Bishop won his sixth term in Congress without any opposition.
When incumbent Republican CongressmanSaxby Chambliss declined to seek another term in Congress to instead pursue asuccessful campaign for the Senate, an open seat was created. DemocratJim Marshall, Chambliss's 2000 opponent and a former Mayor ofMacon, emerged as the Democratic nominee and narrowly edged out Republican businessman Calder Clay to win his first term.
While incumbent Democratic CongresswomanCynthia McKinney opted to run for a sixth term in Congress, she was defeated in the Democratic primary byDeKalb County State Court JudgeDenise Majette.[4] In this solidly liberal district based inAtlanta and the African-American-heavy suburbs inDeKalb County, the Democratic primary wastantamount to election. True to the district's leanings, Majette crushed Republican nominee Cynthia Van Auken in the general election.
Civil Rights Movement leaderJohn Lewis has represented this staunchly liberal district since 1987. Congressman Lewis has not faced any remotely serious challenge in his career, seeing as the 5th district is rooted in the city ofAtlanta. This year proved to be no different, and Lewis won a ninth term in Congress with no opposition.
Incumbent Republican CongressmanJohnny Isakson, elected in a 1999 special election to replace the formerSpeaker of the HouseNewt Gingrich, sought his third term in this highly conservative district based in the northern suburbs ofAtlanta. Congressman Isakson defeated Democratic nominee Jeff Weisberger in the general election.
Incumbent Republican CongressmanJohn Linder andBob Barr were redistricted into the same district, a heavily-gerrymandered conservative district based in the northern suburbs ofAtlanta. The district was numerically Barr's (the 7th), but was geographically more Linder's district. Linder easily defeated Barr in the Republican primary.[5] Linder has been an outspoken conservative during his time in Congress and was well known for being the main congressional sponsor of theFairTax. In 2002, Congressman Linder faced Democratic candidate Mike Berlon in the general election and defeated him in a landslide.
Five-term incumbent Republican CongressmanMac Collins ran for a sixth term in this gerrymandered, conservative district based in some of the southern and western suburbs ofAtlanta and the rural communities of north-central Georgia. Congressman Collins faced computer consultant and Democratic nominee Angelos Petrakopoulos in the general election, which he won handily.
In this heavily conservative district based in northeastern Georgia, the eastern exurbs ofAtlanta and the northern suburbsAugusta, incumbent Republican CongressmanCharlie Norwood sought a fifth term. Norwood was the heavy favorite in this district, one of the most conservative in the country, and easily trumped Democratic opponent Barry Irwin in the general election.
Incumbent Republican CongressmanNathan Deal was initially elected to Congress in1992 as a Democrat, but switched to his current affiliation as a Republican in 1995 and has been re-elected without substantive opposition ever since. Deal represents a heavily conservative district that includes much of northwestern Georgia, the northern and eastern suburbs ofAtlanta and the city ofGainesville. Congressman Deal was unopposed in the general election and thus won his sixth term without competition.
This gerrymandered district that runs along much of Georgia's northern border withAlabama and includes liberal-leaning rural territory north ofAtlanta overlaps with much of the former 7th district, represented by four term Republican incumbentBob Barr. Barr opted to run for re-election in the new 7th district which contained a significant portion of his old base. RepublicanState SenatorPhil Gingrey emerged victorious in the Republican Primary for this open seat election. Gingrey faced Democratic candidate Roger Kahn, a businessman, Barr's 2000 opponent, and a member of the Georgia State Elections Board. In a close election, Gingrey defeated Kahn and won his first term in Congress.
This district, created as a result of Georgia's population growth, was drawn by the Democrats in theGeorgia State Legislature to elect a Democrat; given the newly-drawn district's high African-American population and the fact that it would have voted forAl Gore in the2000 presidential election, this was a realistic expectation.Max Burns, a professor atGeorgia Southern University and a formerScreven County Commissioner, emerged as the Republican nominee whileAugusta businessman Charles "Champ" Walker, Jr., the son of powerfulState SenatorCharles Walker, became the Democratic nominee. This solidly Democratic district pulled fromSavannah,Augusta, andAthens and was expected to elect Walker. However, when ethical problems emerged for Walker, he began losing ground and eventually lost to Burns by a solid margin.
Created as a result of Georgia's population growth, this heavily-gerrymandered district surroundedAtlanta and pulled from heavily Democratic communities in the surrounding counties.State SenatorDavid Scott became the Democratic nominee and faced off against Republican Clay Cox, whom he defeated by a fairly solid margin in the general election.
District results
County results
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