2004 United States Senate election in Georgia

2004 United States Senate election in Georgia

November 2, 2004

Nominee Johnny Isakson Denise Majette Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,864,205 1,287,695 Percentage 57.9% 40.0%

County Results Isakson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Majette:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Zell Miller Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson Republican

The 2004 United States Senate election in Georgia took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Zell Miller decided to retire, leaving an open seat. Majette became both the first African American and the first woman to be nominated for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. Republican Johnny Isakson won the open seat.

The results were almost a complete reversal from the previous election in 2000.

Major candidates

Democratic

• Denise Majette, U.S. Representative

Republican

• Johnny Isakson, U.S. Representative
• Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza
• Mac Collins, U.S. Representative

Campaign

Majette's announcement that she would seek to replace Miller also caught Democrats by surprise, as she was not on anyone's call list when Democrats began seeking a candidate to replace Miller. Further skepticism among Democrats about the viability of her candidacy surfaced when she announced that "God" had told her to run for the Senate. She received important endorsements from U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, along with many others in Washington who campaigned and raised money for Majette. Her Senate campaign slogan was "I'll be nobody's Senator, but yours."

A number of factors led to Majette's loss. These include her late start, her valuable time and money spent in the runoff, larger conservative turnout from a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages (which Majette opposed), the popularity of President George W. Bush in Georgia, and her lack of experience (being a one-term congresswoman).

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 31, 2004

Results

Republican Primary Election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson	346,765	53.2%
	Republican	Herman Cain	170,464	26.2%
	Republican	Mac Collins	134,053	20.6%

2004 United States Senate election, Georgia

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson	1,864,205	57.88%	+19.97%
	Democratic	Denise Majette	1,287,695	39.98%	−18.22%
	Libertarian	Allen Buckley	69,051	2.14%	+2.14%
Majority			576,510	17.90%
Turnout			3,220,951
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing

See also

• 2004 United States Senate election