1992 United States Senate election in Georgia
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County results Cloverdell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Fowler: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Georgia |
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The 1992 United States Senate election in Georgia was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Wyche Fowler did not receive a simple majority in the general election, which demanded a runoff. Coverdell edged out Fowler in the runoff with a narrow margin, concurrent with Democrat Bill Clinton's win in the state in the presidential election.[1] It was the first Senate runoff election to be held in Georgia since runoffs were first mandated in 1964.
Republican primary[]
The general primary was held July 21, 1992.[2] A run-off between the top two Republican contenders was held on August 11, in which Paul Coverdell defeated Bob Barr.
Candidates[]
- Bob Barr, President of Southeastern Legal Foundation and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia
- Paul Coverdell, former Director of the Peace Corps and former State Senator
- John Knox, former Mayor of Waycross
- Dean Parkison, retired drug store owner and perennial candidate
- Charlie Tanskley
Results[]
Results[3] for the first round showed that since Paul Coverdell did not win a majority of the vote, a runoff was held between him and Barr. Coverdell subsequently won the runoff.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Paul Coverdell | 100,016 | 37.05% | |
Republican | Bob Barr | 65,471 | 24.25% | |
Republican | John Knox | 64,514 | 23.90% | |
Republican | Charlie Tanskley | 32,590 | 12.07% | |
Republican | Dean Parkison | 7,352 | 2.72% | |
Turnout | 269,943 | 100.00% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Paul Coverdell | 80,435 | 50.49% | |
Republican | Bob Barr | 78,887 | 49.51% | |
Turnout | 159,332 | 100.00% |
General election[]
Candidates[]
- Paul Coverdell (R), former State Senator
- Wyche Fowler (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
- Jim Hudson (L)
Results[]
Initial[]
As no candidate reached a majority on November 3, a runoff election was held on November 24, which Coverdell won.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Wyche Fowler (incumbent) | 1,108,416 | 49.23% | |
Republican | Paul Coverdell | 1,073,282 | 47.67% | |
Libertarian | Jim Hudson | 69,878 | 3.10% | |
Write-In Votes | 11 | 0.00% | ||
Majority | 35,134 | 1.56% | ||
Turnout | 2,251,587 |
Run off[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Paul Coverdell | 635,118 | 50.65% | ||
Democratic | Wyche Fowler (incumbent) | 618,774 | 49.35% | ||
Majority | 16,344 | 1.30% | |||
Turnout | 1,253,892 | ||||
Republican gain from Democratic |
Aftermath[]
The Georgia Legislature, then controlled by Democrats, changed the state's laws requiring a run-off election only if the winning candidate received less than 45% of the vote. In the 1996 Senate election, the winner, Democrat Max Cleland won with only 48.9% (1.4% ahead of Republican Guy Millner) thus avoiding a run-off. In 2005 after Republicans took control of the legislature, the run-off requirement was changed back to 50%.[4]
The result of this election would later repeat in reverse in the 2020-21 regular Senate election in Georgia, with Republican David Perdue winning the first round but falling less than one percent below the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff, and then being defeated in the runoff by Democrat Jon Ossoff with a similar one point margin. [5]
See also[]
- 1992 United States Senate elections
References[]
- ^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (1993). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional election of November 3, 1992" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ 1992 Republican Primary OurCampaigns
- ^ "Our Campaigns - GA US Senate - R Primary Race - Jul 21, 1992".
- ^ "Runoff system a Southern relic". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 10, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "Jon Ossoff Wins Georgia Runoff, Handing Democrats Senate Control". National Public Radio. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- 1992 Georgia (U.S. state) elections
- 1992 United States Senate elections
- United States Senate elections in Georgia (U.S. state)