2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia

The 2008 congressional elections in Georgia were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Georgia in the United States House of Representatives, coinciding with the presidential and senatorial elections. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011.

2008 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia

← 2006 November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04) 2010 →

All 13 Georgia seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Last election 7 6
Seats won 7 6
Seat change Steady Steady
Popular vote 1,883,633 1,858,090
Percentage 50.34% 49.66%
Swing Decrease 4.63% Increase 4.63%

Georgia has thirteen seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Its 2007–2008 congressional delegation consisted of seven Republicans and six Democrats. No districts changed party, although CQ Politics had forecasted districts 8 and 12 to be at some risk for the incumbent party.

The general primary was held July 15, 2008.[1]

Overview

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United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2008
Party Votes Percentage Seats before Seats after +/–
Republican 1,883,633 50.34% 7 7 0
Democratic 1,858,090 49.66% 6 6 0
Others 309 0.0% 0 0 0
Valid votes - -%
Invalid or blank votes - -%
Totals 3,742,032 100.00% 13 13
Voter turnout 72.01%

All information came from the Secretary of State of Georgia website.

Match-up summary

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District Incumbent 2008 status Democratic Republican Write-in(s)
1 Jack Kingston Re-election Bill Gillespie Jack Kingston
2 Sanford Bishop Re-election Sanford Bishop Lee Ferrell
3 Lynn Westmoreland Re-election Stephen Camp Lynn Westmoreland Loretta VanPelt
4 Hank Johnson Re-election Hank Johnson Loren Christopher Collins
Faye Coffield
Jacob Perasso
5 John Lewis Re-election John Lewis Shira Kash
Jeanne Fitzmaurice
6 Tom Price Re-election Bill Jones Tom Price
7 John Linder Re-election Doug Heckman John Linder
8 Jim Marshall Re-election Jim Marshall Rick Goddard
9 Nathan Deal Re-election Jeff Scott Nathan Deal
10 Paul Broun Re-election Bobby Saxon Paul Broun
11 Phil Gingrey Re-election Bud Gammon Phil Gingrey
12 John Barrow Re-election John Barrow John Stone
13 David Scott Re-election David Scott Deborah Honeycutt

District breakdown

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District 1

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Incumbent Republican Jack Kingston (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee Bill Gillespie (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 1st congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jack Kingston (incumbent) 165,890 66.5
Democratic Bill Gillespie 83,444 33.5
Total votes 249,334 100.00
Republican hold

District 2

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2008 Georgia's 2nd congressional district election
 
← 2006
2010 →
     
Nominee Sanford Bishop Lee Ferrell
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 158,435 71,351
Percentage 68.9% 31.1%

 
County results

U.S. Representative before election

Sanford Bishop
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Sanford Bishop
Democratic

Democratic incumbent Sanford Bishop (campaign website) won against Republican nominee Lee Ferrell (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Georgia's 2nd congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sanford Bishop (incumbent) 158,435 68.9
Republican Lee Ferrell 71,351 31.1
Total votes 229,786 100.00
Democratic hold

District 3

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2008 Georgia's 8th congressional district election
 
← 2006
2010 →
   
Nominee Jim Marshall Rick Goddard
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 157,241 117,446
Percentage 57.2% 42.8%

 
County results

U.S. Representative before election

Jim Marshall
Democratic

Elected U.S. Representative

Jim Marshall
Democratic

Republican incumbent Lynn Westmoreland (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee Stephen Camp (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 3rd congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Lynn Westmoreland (incumbent) 225,055 65.7
Democratic Stephen Camp 117,522 34.3
Independent Loretta VanPelt (write-in) 3 0.0
Total votes 342,580 100.00
Republican hold

District 4

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Freshman Democratic incumbent Hank Johnson (campaign website) was unopposed on the ballot and easily defeated three write-in challengers. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Georgia's 4th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Hank Johnson (incumbent) 224,494 99.9
Independent Loren Christopher Collins (write-in) 159 0.1
Independent Faye Coffield (write-in) 35 0.0
Independent Jacob Perasso (write-in) 6 0.0
Total votes 224,694 100.00
Democratic hold

District 5

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Democratic incumbent John Lewis (campaign website) ran unopposed. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Democrat'.

Georgia's 5th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Lewis (incumbent) 231,368 100.0
Independent Shira Kash 81 0.0
Independent Jeanne Fitzmaurice 25 0.0
Total votes 231,474 100.00
Democratic hold

District 6

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Republican incumbent Tom Price (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee Bill Jones (campaign website), an Air Force veteran and high-tech businessman. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 6th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Price (incumbent) 231,520 68.5
Democratic Bill Jones 106,551 31.5
Total votes 338,071 100.00
Republican hold

District 7

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Republican incumbent John Linder (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee Doug Heckman (campaign website Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine), a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 7th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Linder (incumbent) 209,354 62.0
Democratic Doug Heckman 128,159 38.0
Total votes 337,513 100.00
Republican hold

District 8

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Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall (campaign website) won against Republican nominee and retired Major General Rick Goddard (campaign website).

Marshall survived a challenge from former Republican congressman Mac Collins in 2006 by 1,752 votes and was expected to face a tough re-election bid in 2008. Some thought this might prompt him to challenge U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss in Georgia's Senate race, but he decided to stay in the House. Marshall won easily in the primary against music teacher Robert Nowak (campaign website[permanent dead link]).

On the Republican side, retired Air Force Major General Rick Goddard announced that he would run.[3] His background may have great appeal in a district with a large number of veterans, though Marshall's own military background and well-established credibility on military issues may cancel this out. Other potential Republican candidates were state Senator Ross Tolleson, state Senator Cecil Staton and former congressman Mac Collins, but Goddard ran unopposed.[citation needed]

The present district, which was implemented starting with the 2006 election, would have given George W. Bush 61% of the vote in 2004 (CPVI=R+8).

Georgia's 8th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jim Marshall (incumbent) 157,241 57.2
Republican Rick Goddard 117,446 42.8
Total votes 274,687 100.00
Democratic hold

District 9

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Republican incumbent Nathan Deal won against Democratic nominee Jeff Scott (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 9th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Nathan Deal (incumbent) 217,493 75.5
Democratic Jeff Scott 70,537 24.5
Total votes 288,030 100.00
Republican hold

District 10

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Republican incumbent Paul Broun (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee and Iraq War veteran Bobby Saxon (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

In a 2007 special election, physician Paul Broun, a Republican with libertarian views, won a stunning upset in a non-partisan runoff. On July 15, Broun fended off his Republican primary challenger and state Representative Barry Fleming 71.0% to 29.0%.

Georgia's 10th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Paul Broun (incumbent) 177,265 60.7
Democratic Bobby Saxon 114,638 39.3
Total votes 291,903 100.00
Republican hold

District 11

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Republican incumbent Phil Gingrey (campaign website) won against Democratic nominee Bud Gammon (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Safe Republican'.

Georgia's 11th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Phil Gingrey (incumbent) 204,082 68.2
Democratic Bud Gammon 95,220 31.8
Total votes 299,302 100.00
Republican hold

District 12

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Democratic incumbent John Barrow (campaign website) won against Republican John Stone (campaign website). CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Democrat Favored'.

Barrow won against State Senator Regina D. Thomas in the Democratic primary. In 2006, John Barrow won by only 864 votes against the Republican nominee, former Representative Max Burns. Barrow had defeated then-incumbent Burns in 2004 with 52% of the vote, but in 2007 Burns accepted a job with North Georgia College and State University.

On the Republican side, radio announcer and former congressional aide John Stone won against mechanical engineer and former presidential candidate Ray McKinney and Ben Crystal.

The present district, which was implemented starting with the 2006 election, would have given John Kerry 51% in 2004 (CPVI=D+2).

Georgia's 12th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John Barrow (incumbent) 164,562 66.0
Republican John Stone 84,773 34.0
Total votes 249,335 100.00
Democratic hold

District 13

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Democratic incumbent David Scott (campaign website) won against Republican nominee Deborah Honeycutt (campaign website Archived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine), who also ran unsuccessfully in 2006. CQ Politics forecasted the race as 'Democrat Favored'. Scott won against Donzella James in the Democratic primary election.

Georgia's 13th congressional district election, 2008[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic David Scott (incumbent) 205,919 69.0
Republican Deborah Honeycutt 92,320 31.0
Total votes 298,239 100.00
Democratic hold

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Unofficial And Incomplete Results of the Tuesday, July 15, 2008 General Primary Election Georgia Secretary of State.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Georgia Election Results - Official Results of the Tuesday, November 04, 2008 General Election". Secretary of State of Georgia. February 18, 2009. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  3. ^ "macon.com". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
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Preceded by
2006 elections
United States House elections in Georgia
2008
Succeeded by
2010 elections