ATLANTA — Election season in Georgia officially has begun.

Would-be state and federal office holders lined up Monday at the state Capitol to pay a fee and qualify to get on the ballot.

And with the war in Iraq raging on, Democrats have enlisted a cadre of military veterans to do battle with Georgia Republican incumbents on Capitol Hill.

Four Democratic veterans signed on to challenge four GOP congressmen from reliably Republican districts.

And Jim Martin, a Vietnam veteran, became the first Democrat to put his name on the ballot Monday against U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

“I served in Vietnam. He didn’t,” said Martin, a former state lawmaker and Department of Human Resources commissioner. He called Chambliss “a rubber stamp for George Bush and Dick Cheney.”

Chambliss qualified earlier in the day.

“I know that the Democrats in this state are energized,” Chambliss said. “There’s an awful lot of them that want to see me out of office and they’re going to do everything they can to make sure that happens.”

In legislative races for Northwest Georgia seats, two attorneys qualified for the race for District 3 state House seat held by Rep. Ron Forster, R-Ringgold.

Tom Weldon Jr., of Ringgold, and Robert D. “Bob” Jenkins, who listed a post office box in Dalton as his address, qualified as Republican candidates, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Brad Scott, Catoosa County’s GOP chairman, said he will run, too.

“I will go to Atlanta and qualify Thursday morning,” Mr. Scott said.

Rep. Forster said Monday he’s plans to wait until Friday before deciding which race, if any, he’ll enter. He said he’s still interested in running for the Public Service Commission, adding incumbent District 4 Commissioner Angela Speir’s decision not to run for re-election, “makes it more interesting.”

Lauren W. “Bubba” McDonald Jr., who lost his commission seat to Ms. Speir six years ago, qualified for the position Monday as a Republican.

Qualifying ends at noon Friday.

Staff writer Lori Yount contributed to this report.

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Georgia Secretary of State: http://sos.georgia.gov