Spotlight on Georgia: Primary Tuesday

Update: Reed Concedes - 8.13 pm Pacific

Update 2: Taylor Wins - 1.27 am Pacific

Georgians head to the polls Tuesday to select candidates for statewide offices and Congress -- with each party fielding a high-profile, controversial candidate. Fewer than one-in-four registered voters are expected to make the trek. One culprit is 100 degree weather; a controversial ID program remains on hold.

One of the hottest races is the contest for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination: Secretary of State Cathy Cox versus Lt. Governor Mark Taylor.

Both candidates got a tongue-lashing from FactCheck earlier this month for attack ads -- a combined total of $7 million in TV ads that some voters call a turn-off.

Should Cox win, she would be the first woman in Georgia to be nominated for governor by the Democratic or Republican party. Taylor, who weighs 300 pounds, refers to himself as "the big guy" in TV spots and on his website. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution endorsed Taylor because he has more legislative experience than Cox.

Whoever wins will have an uphill battle against Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue in November; he is the first Republican Governor since Reconstruction. Both Cox and Taylor are natives of rural, southwest Georgia. (Disclaimer: I know Cathy from college, Mark is from my hometown. I've given money to Cox's campaign.)

The Republican fight for the Lt. Governor nomination isn't pretty, either, and has taken on national attention due to ties to Jack Abramoff.

FactCheck takes Ralph Reed, former national executive director of the Christian Coalition, to task for his "false and misleading claims" about his opponent, Casey Cagle. "Cagle is attacking Reed as well, with tough accusations about Reed's ties to convicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Those we find accurate, save for one made-up newspaper quote."

These are the four front-runners -- but there are additional candidates for each party in each race. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top two face a run-off on 8 August.

In the 13 House races, the stand-out is Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-4), who recently tangled with a Capitol Hill police officer. McKinney, elected 14 years ago, was the first black woman to represent Georgia in Congress; she was re-elected in 2004, after losing in 2002. She faces Hank Johnson Jr., a former DeKalb County commissioner, in the primary.

See Campaign 2006 - Mid-Term Elections (WaPost) , Media Matters, Swing State Report, You Decide (FOX)

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