Population  (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Georgia Secretary of State) Total Population, July 1, 2008 est. 9,658,744 Total Registration (active), Oct. 2008 5,244,232 Georgia has: 159 counties. Largest counties: Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb, Clayton, Chatham. Largest cities: Atlanta, Augusta-Richmond, Columbus, Savannah, Macon. Government Governor: Sonny Perdue (R) elected Nov. 2002, re-elected Nov. 2006. State Legislature: Georgia General Assembly   House: 180 seats  Senate: 56 seats Local: Cities and Counties   NACO Counties U.S. House: 7R, 6D - 1. J.Kingston (R) | 2. S.Bishop (D) | 3. L.Westmoreland (R) | 4. H.Johnson (D) | 5. J.Lewis (D) | 6. T.Price (R) | 7. J.Linder (R) | 8. J.Marshall (D) |  9. N.Deal (R) | 10. P.Broun (R) | 11. P.Gingrey (R) | 12. J.Barrow (D) | 13. D.Scott (D).  U.S. Senate: Saxby Chambliss (R) up for election in 2008, Johnny Isakson (R) elected Nov. 2004. 2008 update    U.S. Senate:  In his bid for a second term, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) faced Jim Martin (D), a former State representative and former head of the Georgia Department of Human Resources, and Allen Buckley (L), an attorney and CPA.  Chambliss fell just short of the 50 percent mark on Nov. 4 but won the Dec. 2 runoff.  U.S. House:  The closest U.S. House race occurred in the 8th CD (Macon), where incumbent Rep. Jim Marshall (D) defeated Rick Goddard (R) by 57.2% to 42.8%.  The U.S. House delegation remains at 7R, 6D.  MORE

State of Georgia Secretary of State GA Democratic Party GA Green Party GA Republican Party Libertarian Party of GA Constitution Party of GA Atlanta Journal-Const. Media (Newsp.) TV, Radio Politics1-GA blogs Georgia Unfiltered Peach Pundit The Peach State

On May 29, 2007 Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) signed S.B. 194, a bill that, among other provisions, states that the presidential preference primary "shall be held on February 5, 2008, and on the first Tuesday in February every four years thereafter."

Code Section 21-2-193: "Not later than November 1 of the year preceding the year in which a presidential preference primary is to be held, the state executive committee of each party which is to conduct a presidential preference primary shall submit to the Secretary of State a list of the names of the candidates of such party to appear on the presidential preference primary ballot. Such lists shall be published by the Secretary of State in a newspaper of general circulation in the state during the first week of December in the year immediately preceding the year in which the presidential preference primary is to be held."

On the Ballot

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population: 5,878,186. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.2% Advance Voting: Any registered voter can cast a ballot in person at their county voter registration office during normal business hours on October 25-29, 2004. Total Advance Voting: 387,596. Total Registration: 4,248,802. Voter Registration Deadline: October 4, 2004.

Official Results +Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 1,914,254 (57.97) Kerry/Edwards (Dem.) 1,366,149 (41.37) Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 18,387 (0.56) Ralph Nader (w/in) 2,231 (0.07) Michael Peroutka (w/in) 580 (0.02) David Cobb (w/in) 228 (0.01) 4 other w/ins 46 -  Total........3,301,873

2004 Overview President Bush improved upon his 2000 showing winning by 548,105 votes (16.60 percentage points).  Bush carried 133 counties to 26 for Kerry.  Two of the campaigns' most prominent surrogates, retiring Sen. Zell Miller (D) for Bush and former Sen. Max Cleland (D) for Kerry, hailed from Georgia.  General Election Details Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

[Primary Election June 21, 2004]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population: 5,639,668. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 45.8%. 2,690,624 total ballots were cast (difference from total votes for president is 93,991 or 3.5%). Total Registration: 3,856,676.

Official Results +Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 1,419,720  (54.68) Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 1,116,230 (42.99) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 36,332 (1.40) Buchanan/Foster (Ind.) 10,926 (0.42) Ralph Nader (w/in) 13,432 (0.51) Howard Phillips (w/in) 140  - James Harris (w/in) 11 -  GloriaDawnStrickland(w/in) 8 -  Joe Schriner (w/in) 5 -  Total........2,596,804 Notes.  Only four candidates appeared on the presidential ballot (there were also five certified write-in candidates).  Independent candidates for president were required to submit 38,113 signatures of qualified, registered voters (one percent of the total number of voters registered and eligible to vote in Georgia in the 1996 presidential election).

2000 Overview In 1992 (Clinton) and again in 1996 (Dole) less than 30,000 votes separated the Republican and Democratic presidential tickets in Georgia; in 2000, however, Bush-Cheney walloped Gore-Lieberman by 313,490 votes (11.69 percentage points).  Bush carried 125 counties to Gore's 34.  Libertarian Harry Browne achieved one of his best showings in Georgia, while Ralph Nader, despite being a write-in candidate, finished ahead of Pat Buchanan. General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992 Clinton (Dem.).....1,008,966 (43.47) Bush (Rep.)...........995,252 (42.88) Perot (Ind.) ...........309,657 (13.34) Others (1+w/ins).......7,250 (0.31) Total........2,321,125

1996 Dole (Rep.)..........1,080,843 (47.01) Clinton (Dem.).....1,053,849 (45.84) Perot (Ref.)............146,337 (6.36) Others (1+w/ins)......18,042 (0.78) Total........2,299,071

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.