In Georgia, demographics help GOP's Lamutt

ATLANTA, July 26 (UPI) -- The demographics of Georgia's open 6th Congressional District should give the edge to state Sen. Rob Lamutt in the Aug. 10 GOP runoff election.

Lamutt won 28 percent of the vote in the the five-way July 20 GOP primary, finishing second to fellow state Sen. Tom Price but, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, the geography of the district and, "its traditions favor Lamutt" because Lamutt is from Cobb County, home to two-thirds of the district's voters.

An April 4 survey cited by the paper found that almost 80 percent of the Cobb County voters queried said they would prefer their representative in Congress to be from Cobb as opposed to Cherokee or Fulton counties, the latter being home to Price and the capital, Atlanta.

Overall, the numbers are against Price, since only 30 percent of the votes in the district, which was once represented by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and 2004 GOP Senate nominee Johnny Isakson, are cast in Fulton county.

"It's clear Price will win most of the vote in Fulton," Emory University political scientist Merle Black said. "It's really how well Lamutt can consolidate the Cobb vote. Eighty percent of the Cobb vote went to someone" other than Price, he said.