Voters in Georgia’s 9th congressional district go to the polls tomorrow to elect a replacement for long-time representative Nathan Deal, who resigned his seat to seek the GOP nomination as governor. The runoff pits Tom Graves and Lee Hawkins, both conservatives, in a contest that has grown increasingly heated in the weeks since the two men emerged from a bruising special election in which they were the leading vote-getters. For all the heat, though, the election has stirred relatively little interest.
Relatively few of the heavily Republican district’s eligible voters turned out for the May election that included eight candidates. Mr. Graves won 35 percent of the vote and Mr. Hawkins 23 percent, but neither obtained the majority-plus-one needed to fill the remainder of Mr. Deal’s term. Prospects for a heavier turnout tomorrow are dim, veteran political observers agree.
One possible reason for the low turnout is the similarity of the candidates. Both are quite conservative, a necessity in a district in which 75 percent of voters cast a ballot for Republican nominee John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. The most pressing issue in the runoff, it seems, is which of the two candidates is the most conservative.
Both candidates are former state legislators and both share a similar philosophy about the role of government. Mr. Graves, though, has won support and funding from both the anti-tax Club for Growth and from FreedomWorks, the organization established by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. The latter has close ties with the tea party movement. Mr. Hawkins views such support as a liability, charging that Mr. Graves will be beholden to interests outside the district if elected.
Whoever wins the runoff tomorrow will serve in Congress for the rest of the year. The July 20 primary will determine the winner of the next full, two-year term. Mr. Graves and Mr. Hawkins, along with Chris Cates, Steve Tarvin and Bobby Reese, are on the Republican ballot. Two other candidates qualified but say they no longer running.
There are no Democrats or third party congressional candidates on the July 20 ballot. Therefore, the GOP primary will determine the nominee for a full term. There is no assurance, however, that a definitive winner will emerge. With five active candidates on the ballot, there is always a possibility of a runoff. If that is the case, voters will return to the polls on Aug. 10 for another runoff to pick the GOP flagbearer assured of victory in the November general election.
District 9’s highly conservative, GOP majority might not feel the need to go to the polls tomorrow. After all, they’re assured of a winner that espouses their views. That’s no reason, however, to fail to vote. Democracy works best when a majority – not a minority – of voters choose those who represent their interests at all levels of government.