Georgia picks quieter Congressional voices

ATLANTA, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Republican John Linder and Democrat Denise Majette

Linder and Majette will each face opposition in November, but both are expected to win easily. Linder will face Democrat Michael Berlon in the general election. A Sept. 10 runoff will determine Majette's Republican opponent.

Voters rejected five-term U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat who claimed President Bush had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, a high-profile conservative who had the backing of Charlton Heston and Kenneth Starr. They were voted out of office in Georgia's first primary elections since the state's legislature drew new congressional districts to reflect the state's growing population.

McKinney was defeated by former DeKalb State Court Judge Denise Majette, a Brooklyn-born Yale graduate who resigned her seat on the bench after 10 years to challenge McKinney in a largely middle-class district in Atlanta's eastern suburbs.

Last fall, McKinney was criticized for writing a letter of apology to a Saudi Arabian prince, whose offer of a $10 million gift for families of the terrorist attacks was rejected by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Majette, whose campaign literature asked voters if they were "tried of being embarassed by the outrageous statements of your own Congresswoman," said her political views were not that different from McKinney's, but she said she would be a more effective representative of Georgia's racially mixed 4th District.

"The people of the district really want to focus on the needs of the district," said Majette, the first black woman to challenge McKinney from within the Democratic Party. "People are ready for the strong Democratic leadership I can provide."

McKinney blamed crossover voting by Republicans, who were free under Georgia law to cast a Democratic primary ballot. But the 58 to 42 percent margin by which Majette won the nomination shows that McKinney's support had eroded, even in predominantly black areas.

"It looks like the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me," McKinney said.

In heavily Republican areas of Atlanta's northern suburbs, voters were forced to choose between two popular conservative incumbents -- Bob Barr and John Linder -- who were forced into a new 7th Congressional District drawn by Georgia's Democratic-controlled state legislature. Linder has been in office for 10 years while Barr has served for eight years.

Just as headline-grabbing comments worked against McKinney, Barr's national name recognition hurt him more than helped him as he faced Linder, a fellow Republican who already represented most of the constituents in the newly drawn 7th District.

Linder, who received about 64 percent of the vote, said his victory was because of 10 months of daily campaigning and a hard-working volunteer campaign staff. "I read this as not a rejection of (Barr). It's an affirmation of me," Linder said.

Even though a Barr campaign commercial portrayed Barr as a bulldog and Linder as a whimpering dachsund, Barr quickly conceded to Linder, first by telephone, then joining Linder as he celebrated at his election-night headquarters.