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 Popular vote 1,883,633 1,858,090 Percentage 50.34% 49.66% Swing 4.63% 4.63%
Republican   60–70%   70–80% Democratic   50–60%   60–70%   >90%

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

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

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

District 1

 

See also: Georgia's 1st congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 2nd congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 3rd congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 4th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 5th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 6th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 7th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 8th congressional district

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

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).

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).

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 9th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 10th congressional district

Republican incumbent Paul Broun () won against Democratic nominee and Iraq War veteran Bobby Saxon (). 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%.

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 11th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 12th congressional district

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).

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

 

See also: Georgia's 13th congressional district

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

• from CQ Politics
• Campaign contributions from OpenSecrets

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

•  Georgia (U.S. State) portal

• 2008 United States House of Representatives elections

References

1. Unofficial And Incomplete Results of the Tuesday, July 15, 2008 General Primary Election Georgia Secretary of State.
2. . Secretary of State of Georgia. February 18, 2009. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
3. . Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved July 20, 2008.

External links

• Elections Division from the Georgia Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Georgia at Project Vote Smart
• from 2008 Race Tracker
• Campaign contributions for Georgia congressional races from OpenSecrets
• from the Democratic Party of Georgia

Preceded by 2006 elections

United States House elections in Georgia 2008

Succeeded by 2010 elections