Tom Graves
Graves will have little time to savor the win. He'll need to hit the campaign trail again almost immediately.
A July 20 primary will select the GOP nominee for a full two-year term in the House. No Democrat has qualified to run for the seat in November.
“We’ll continue to communicate the positive vision and the positive message,” said Graves in a phone interview Tuesday night.
Graves, a former state representative from rural Ranger, handily defeated fellow Republican Lee Hawkins, according to unofficial results. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Graves had 56.5 percent of the vote and Hawkins had 43.5 percent.
In Gordon County, Graves received 643 votes to Hawkins 153 or 80.78-percent of the votes to 19.22 percent.
“We’re excited, very pleased with the campaign,” said Graves, who said he spent election night in Big Canoe with about 200 supporters.
Graves, 40, will finish the remainder of Nathan Deal's term. Deal, a longtime congressman, stepped down earlier this year to seek the Republican nomination for Georgia governor.
Graves ran with support from the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots, the anti-tax group Club for Growth and Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House. He tapped into anti-Washington anger in the conservative north Georgia district where frustration is high over government spending, a sweeping health reform law and the lack of federal action on immigration reform.
The 9th congressional district covers 15 counties and is heavily Republican. In the 2008 presidential election, Republican John McCain won 75 percent of the vote in the district.
Graves and Hawkins were the top voter getters in a May 11 special election. But neither won the majority in the eight-person field sending the race to a runoff.
Hawkins, a 59-year-old dentist from Gainesville, served in the state Senate. He cast himself as the mainstream conservative and a problem solver.
Graves, meanwhile, adopted insurgent rhetoric in his bid. He referred to supporters as "freedom fighters."
Results by county will be listed on the Secretary of State's website as they are available.
The AP contributed to this story.
I wrote it I know what was meant even if you don't understand the use.
You might want to take a refresher course in punctuation. The comma doesn't belong between the words "educated" and "people" in your post.
Compliments of a Gordon County educated Citizen.
1. Voted yes to HR 1086 which prohibits health care mandates.
2. Voted yes to HB 301 which increases dogfighting penalties.
3. Voted yes to SB 83 which increases statewide homestead exemptions.
4. Voted yes to HB 233 which put a moratorium on increases in assessed value of property due to the economic downturn.
I am sure you will probably find fault with this somehow. So far I am satisified with the way that Tom Graves has represented me in Georgia.
I'm sure we'll see those on the far right trash some of the local Democrats in November, saying things like awful, pathetic, terrible, loser, jerk, joke, etc.
They'll be just as narrow minded and one sided as the comments made by far left ideologues here today.
I did not support Graves. I didn't think any of our selections were worthy of our support.
At the same time I get aggravated with "homers" who truly don't have a mind of their own. Slap a sign that says "Republican" on it, and you're labeled white, racist, religious fanatic, etc.
Slap a Democratic sign on you, and you become a baby killer, homosexual unions advocate, pot smoker approver,etc.
Both labels and THOSE WHO LABEL AND GENERALIZE are wrong!
Problem is, we can't find common sense people who can pick and choose the best suggestions that BOTH parties have to offer. They waste too much time and effort demonizing the other guy.
Hey! It's America! Ain't that the way things are supposed to work?
Graves election is just one step above Georgia Governor Gasguy's 43-member trade mission to Cuba chasing $$$.
FYI: Cuban's average monthly salary: $18.
Source:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2886.htm
Date: March 25, 2010