Graves wins 9th District congressional runoff

ATLANTA - Freshman U.S. Rep. Tom Graves effectively won a full term in Congress on Tuesday by beating his opponent in a north Georgia Republican primary, while fellow GOP candidate Rob Woodall won the party's endorsement to run for the seat held by his retiring boss, Congressman John Linder.

Meanwhile, voters elsewhere in Georgia picked Republicans Ray McKinney and Mike Crane to face incumbent Democratic congressmen in November's election.

The runoff race on Tuesday put an end to a monthslong contest to select a congressman to fill a two-year term in north Georgia. Voters had gone to the polls four times since May before an election proved decisive.

With about 99 percent of precincts reporting, Graves, 40, of Ranger, won 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent for GOP challenger Lee Hawkins, 59, of Gainesville, a former state senator, in the 9th Congressional District.

The runoff in the north Georgia mountains will essentially decide a winner since no Democrat has qualified for the November general election.

Gary McBride, 45, of Braselton, said he voted for Graves in the race because of his message on government spending.

"That came down to fiscal responsibility and a sense of urgency," McBride said. "I want to see prudent, frugal cuts. I want to see pork being cut."

The contest began earlier this year when Nathan Deal, a longtime congressman, stepped down to run for governor. After a special election in May and a runoff in June, voters picked Graves over Hawkins to fill the remaining months of Deal's term.

Graves garnered the most votes in the July 20 primary, but failed to earn more than 50 percent plus one vote to claim the nomination for a full, two-year term in the U.S. House.

Rob Woodall, 40, of Lawrenceville, won with 55 percent of the vote to 45 percent for Jody Hice, 50, of Bethlehem, with 97 percent of precincts reporting in Georgia's 7th Congressional District. The district's seat opened when Republican Rep. John Linder decided to retire from politics. Woodall is Linder's former chief of staff and has the endorsement of his old boss.

Hice, a minister, rose to prominence in the district when he fought the American Civil Liberties Union when it sought to remove a copy of the Ten Commandments from a local courthouse. Hice challenged laws preventing nonprofit churches from endorsing political candidates when he backed Republican John McCain for president in 2008 and mailed a copy of his sermon to tax authorities.

Woodall will face Democrat Doug Heckman, 50, of Norcross.

In southeastern Georgia's 12th District, Republican Ray McKinney of Lyons won his runoff with 62 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Carl Smith of Thunderbolt with 87 percent of precincts reporting. McKinney will face Democratic Rep. John Barrow in the fall.

McKinney, a 48-year-old contractor who manages nuclear power projects, was the top vote-getter in last month's, four-way Republican primary. This was his second run for Barrow's seat following an unsuccessful GOP primary bid in 2008, when McKinney joined the congressional race after abandoning a long-shot campaign for president.

"My background and experience is in the job market - it's creating jobs, it's running a business," McKinney said in a phone interview after winning. "And that's what we need in Washington."

Smith, the 40-year-old fire chief of Thunderbolt east of Savannah, had to fight to keep his job while campaigning. The Thunderbolt town council voted in June to eliminate Smith's paid position as fire chief, though his volunteer firefighters elected to keep him in the job on an unpaid basis.

Barrow of Savannah is seeking a fourth term in the 12th District, which covers 22 counties including large chunks of Savannah and Augusta. The district leans slightly Democratic, and Barrow won re-election with 66 percent of the vote in 2008.

In the 13th Congressional District, Republican Mike Crane of Fairburn won the race by getting 68 percent of the vote against Deborah Honeycutt of Riverdale, who earned 32 percent, with 90 percent of precincts reporting. Crane will face Democratic Rep. David Scott, who won 69 percent of the vote against Honeycutt in the general election two years ago.