Despite tiny slivers of Democratic hope, results from Tuesday’s all-party special election in Georgia’s 10th district confirmed that this heavily Republican area in the northeastern part of the state is not exactly fertile ground for House majority-growing. The dust has not fully settled yet, but with just a few provisional precincts remaining to be counted, state Sen. Jim Whitehead commands 43.5 percent of the vote and appears headed for a July 17 runoff against physician and fellow Republican Paul Broun. Broun claimed 20.7 percent, which places him 187 votes ahead of the leading Democrat, businessman James Marlow.
Although ten candidates—six Republicans, three Democrats, and a libertarian—competed on the same ballot in the preliminary round to replace deceased GOP Rep. Charlie Norwood, only Whitehead, Broun, and Marlow ran serious campaigns and collectively garnered 85 percent of votes cast. Whitehead, who hails from Norwood’s old home base of Columbia County, wrapped himself in a pledge to carry on Norwood’s philosophy and work in Congress and was widely expected to finish high atop the field. The semi-surprise of the night was the
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