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2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia

The 2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Zell Miller, who was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes to replace the deceased Paul Coverdell, overwhelmingly won election to serve the remainder of the term. Miller defeated Republican Mack Mattingly, a former U.S. Senator in a landslide of over 20 points, carrying 149 of the state's 159 counties.

2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia
← 1998 November 7, 2000 2004 →
 
Nominee Zell Miller Mack Mattingly
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,413,224 920,478
Percentage 58.19% 37.90%
Miller:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Mattingly:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Tie:      40–50%      50%
     No data
U.S. senator before election

Zell Miller[a]
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Zell Miller
Democratic

This was the last time until 2020 that a Democrat would win a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, when Raphael Warnock won a special election to fill the same seat and Jon Ossoff won the regular election for the Class 2 Senate seat. It also remains the last time that a Democrat would win a Senate race in the state by double-digits.

Candidates

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Note: This election was a non-partisan election due to it being a special election. Each candidate ran without a party. The parties below reflect which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.

  • Ben Ballenger (Republican)
  • Jeff Gates (Green)
  • Paul Robert MacGregor (Libertarian)
  • Winnie Walsh (Independent)
  • Mack Mattingly, former Ambassador to Seychelles and former U.S. Senator (Republican)
  • Zell Miller, incumbent U.S. Senator and former Governor (Democratic)
  • Bobby Wood (Republican)

Campaign

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One of the biggest campaign issues was Social Security. Miller attacked Mattingly for supporting a raise in the retirement age.[1] The Republican fought back by connecting him to liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and on his vote to block legislation aimed at protecting Social Security. Mattingly said he would vote for Texas Governor George W. Bush for president, who was very popular in the state and led Vice President Al Gore in many Georgia polls. Mattingly then asked Miller who he was supporting in the presidential election. Miller conceded he would vote for Gore because he helped him when he was governor including drought relief, welfare reform, and the Atlanta Olympics. "That does not mean I agree with all of his policies," he concluded.[2] In early October, a poll showed Miller leading with 59% of the vote, despite the fact that Bush was leading Gore by a double-digit margin.[3]

Debates

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Results

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General election results[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Zell Miller (incumbent) 1,413,224 58.19% +13.04%
Nonpartisan Mack Mattingly 920,478 37.90% −14.47%
Nonpartisan Paul Robert MacGregor 25,942 1.07% −1.41%
Nonpartisan Ben Ballenger 22,975 0.95% +0.95%
Nonpartisan Jeff Gates 21,249 0.88% +0.88%
Nonpartisan Bobby Wood 12,499 0.51% +0.51%
Nonpartisan Winnie Walsh 11,875 0.49% +0.49%
Majority 492,746 20.29% +13.07%
Total votes 2,428,242 100.00% 0.00%
Democratic hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In July 2000, Miller was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Paul Coverdell.

References

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  1. ^ "Content no longer available". nl.newsbank.com.
  2. ^ "The Augusta Chronicle: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Augusta, GA". The Augusta Chronicle.
  3. ^ "Content no longer available". nl.newsbank.com.
  4. ^ "General Election Results, Georgia Secretary of State" (PDF).
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