Martin beats Jones in runoff
Ready to challenge Chambliss for Senate seat
From staff reports
 Jim Martin defeated DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones in a runoff for the Democratic nomination and will face Republican Saxby Chambliss in November’s General Election. |
Voters chose former Georgia legislator Jim Martin over DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones Tuesday in the runoff election as the Democrat to face off against Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss in November.
Martin handily defeated Jones with 60 percent of the vote. Jones, who received 125,444 votes to Martin’s 186,203 votes with 98 percent of precincts reporting, conceded the race just before 9:30 p.m.
Voter turnout was heavier than election officials anticipated with 17 percent of DeKalb’s 368,805 registered voters casting ballots.
Less than a month ago, Jones was the leading vote-getter in the July 15 primary election in which he received 42 percent of the votes compared to Martin’s 32 percent in a crowded field with three other contenders.
Precincts numbers in DeKalb, where Jones’ has been at the center of political life for more than 15 years, show voters rejected the now lame-duck CEO. He received 37.5 percent of the vote to Martin’s 62.5 percent.
Martin, 62, now faces Republican incumbent Chambliss on Nov. 4. Chambliss, who was elected to Congress in 1994 and first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, ran unopposed as a Republican in the general primary election.
Martin served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and was appointed by Gov. Roy Barnes as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources for two years.
In January when Martin or Chambliss take office, it will be the first time in 16 years that Jones, 47, who served in the Georgia House of Representatives for eight years and was elected twice as chief executive officer of DeKalb County, will not hold public office.
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