ATLANTA – When Democrat Jim Martin forced Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss into a runoff five years ago, he had just four weeks to win over voters.
In the end, Martin fell behind and lost.
That four-week window is now about to expand to nine – giving candidates twice the amount of time to raise money and spend it on advertising and voter turnout – after a federal judge reset the state’s calendar for federal elections, moving up the primary and dramatically extending the time preceding runoffs.
“Traditionally, in a month candidates are able to maintain their momentum to carry them to the finish line,” said Tharon Johnson, a Democratic strategist who led President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign in the South. “In this case, with both candidates having two months to raise money and campaign, it gives both candidates an opening to implement a new winning strategy.”
Nowhere will this be felt more sharply than in the race for Georgia’s open U.S. Senate seat. Chambliss, a Republican from Moultrie, will be retiring next year, and several GOP candidates have jumped into the race, including three U.S. congressmen and a former Georgia secretary of state. A runoff in the GOP primary is all but certain with a crowded field of well-funded candidates. Meanwhile, Democrats hope that a strong candidate will be able to navigate the primary easily and prepare for a showdown in the general election.