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On the heels of a Landmark Communications poll showing Jim Marshall down by 16, a new poll in the 8th Congressional District also has the Democrat down by double digits. The Hill, a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, found 50% of voters say they will support Republican Austin Scott with just 37% backing Marshall. 10% of voters in The Hill survey were undecided. Looking a little deeper into the numbers, it appears folks still “like” Jim Marshall they just don’t plan to vote for him. As The Hill reports “Ironically, voters give the four-term lawmaker...

Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop’s once-safe hold on his southwest Georgia district has slipped away less than a month before Election Day, and the contest is now a statistical tie, according to a new survey from the campaign of state Rep. Mike Keown (R). Bishop led Keown 47 percent to 46 percent with 7 percent undecided. The 1-point difference was well within the survey’s 4.9-point margin of error. Keown’s poll, which was conducted by the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies, was in the field Sept. 27 and 28 and surveyed 400 likely 2nd district voters. The new poll came four weeks...

The headline could have read "Deal, Huckabee and Gingrich beat Handel, Palin, and Romney in Georgia GOP Governor Run-Off." Of course only Deal and Handel were running. Each candidate rises and falls on his or her own merits. As I posted earlier, endorsements may actually do more for or against the candidate doing the endorsing rather than the one being endorsed. But in Georgia Tuesday, Nathan Deal upset conventional wisdom and Karen Handel with a come-from-behind win in Tuesday’s run-off election. Handel lsot to Deal by only about 2500 votes after beating him handily in the primary race. Deal...

The local Republican-oriented strategy firm of Landmark Communications is out this afternoon with the first polls in the Republican runoffs for governor and attorney general. In the governor’s race, former secretary of state Karen Handel has a nine-point lead over former congressman Nathan Deal, 45.8 percent to 37.1 percent. Undecideds were measured at 17.1 percent.

Ex-Georgia secretary of state Karen Handel has nabbed a spot in the Republican runoff for governor. With 64 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial returns show Handel had 32 percent of the vote. Her candidacy has been buoyed by the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. There was a furious three-way battle behind her for the second runoff spot. Former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal had 25 percent of the vote. Former state Sen. Eric Johnson had 19 percent of the vote, while state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine had 18 percent. They were among seven Republicans vying for their party's nomination....

Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson finally has a major Democratic opponent in his bid for reelection to the U.S. Senate, but the first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race finds the incumbent holding on to more than 50% support. Fifty-one percent (51%) of likely voters in the state favor Isakson in a match-up with State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond who earns 35% support. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and eight percent (8%) remain undecided.

State Rep. Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross) has just introduced legislation that would require Barack Obama – should he run for re-election – to provide proof of his citizenship before being granted a spot on the 2012 Georgia presidential primary ballot. The state of Hawaii, of course, has already declared the matter of Obama’s birth proven — and closed. The new measure stands no chance of passage in the final three days of the current session, but is an indication of what could come next January.

(WSB Radio State Capitol Bureau) -- A day after Democrats in the State Senate narrowly defeat a proposed constitutional amendment to allow Georgians to opt out of the federal health care plan, Senators vote to reconsider the measure and pass a similar bill that would do the same thing. Sen. Judson Hill is the sponsor of both measures. Senate Bill 317 passed on a vote of 31-16. "While I would have preferred to let Georgians vote to have their rights protected in the State Constitution, this legislation will protect Georgians in a similar way," he says. Hudson says the bill,...

Republican Rep. John Linder of Georgia won't seek re-election in November's midterm election, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman said. Linder made the announcement Saturday during a speech at the Gwinnett County Republican headquarters in his home state, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "It has been an honor to serve alongside John and his presence in the House will surely be missed," NRCC Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said in a statement. Sessions added, "Above all, his service to the citizens of the Seventh Congressional District of Georgia was unmatched, and I am confident that voters in this ruby-red district will...

WASHINGTON -- Like the rest of the Democratic Party, Georgia's congressional Democrats are feeling shock waves from the stunning Republican win in Massachusetts. Some Democratic U.S. House members called the upset by Senator-elect Scott Brown a sign that they need to change their campaign strategies and how they do their jobs. At least one, U.S. Rep. David Scott of Atlanta, bucked his party's leadership by suggesting it may be time for Democrats to drop their plans for health care to focus more on the economy. "This is a clarion call for us to focus like a laser on the economy,"...

GEORGIA ELECTION CENTRAL If we are going to make a difference in the upcoming election, we need to KNOW the candidates. Please post the names of ALL your Congressional candidates on this thread along with any and all information available. We need names, positions, platforms, news articles, statements, pictures. We need to separate the RINOS from the Conservatives, and most of all, we need to get the liberals of either party OUT!We can do this if you help. I have started this thread. All you have to do is contribute a little time and a little research. Help us...

As it stands now, you cannot pack heat while listening to the preacher in a house of God. But bills in both the state House and Senate aim to change that. Similar bills filed last year in both chambers would, if enacted, change the locations where weapons could be taken and where they are prohibited. State Rep. Timothy Bearden, R-Villa Rica, is sponsoring House Bill 615, which would make it a crime to take a firearm, knife or explosive into a building that has a courtroom, jail or prison. It would also remove existing restrictions on bringing a gun to...

James Groce said he and many others across American believe government is spending too much, taxing too much and borrowing too much. “We expect our government to show fiscal responsibility. A lot of our politicians aren’t doing the job we elect them to do,” Groce said. Many of those people, including Groce, have come together in Tea Party organizations to speak out against big government. “We have groups started in Dade County, Walker County, Catoosa County, Gordon County and Gilmer County. We are trying to get them started in all the 9th Congressional District counties. We lack Whitfield and Murray,...

Sen. Johnny Isakson is looking a mite vulnerable as the 2010 election season begins, according a Research 2000 poll for the Daily Kos that shows possible challengers close on his heels. The Georgia Republican was paired against several possible Senate contenders, including former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes and Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall. According to the poll of registered voters conducted April 27-29, Isakson would pull 47 percent of the vote against Barnes' 43 percent if the election were held this week, while doing better against Marshall, 48 percent to 40 percent. The poll also found Isakson's "favorable" ratings to be...