Chambliss wins in Georgia
Posted: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 9:09 PM by Carrie Dann
From NBC's Carrie Dann
NBC News declares Republican incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss the projected winner in his Georgia runoff election contest against Democrat Jim Martin.
The defeat of longshot Martin means that Senate Democrats will not reach the 60-vote majority required to block Republican filibusters. Outgoing DSCC chair Chuck Schumer would have needed wins in both the Georgia race and the ongoing Minnesota recount contest between Al Franken and Norm Coleman to reach the supermajority mark.
The runoff between Martin and Chambliss, triggered when neither candidate garnered over 50% of the vote on November 4th, pointed a month-long national spotlight at the state. High-wattage surrogates like Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Sarah Palin appeared in the hopes of mobilizing Republican voters for Chambliss. Barack Obama did not campaign in person for underdog Martin, choosing to throw a lower dosage of his political capital into the race by recording a radio ad and robocalls for the Democrat; surrogates for Martin did include former president Bill Clinton and former vice president Al Gore.