11Alive’s Doug Richards recently sat down with Rep. Hank Johnson and his Republican opponent Liz Carter about Johnson’s refusal up to this point to debate Carter prior to the November election.

I guess this sorta cements the fact that this particular election isn’t really about the debating the issues.  It’s about getting re-elected.

h/t: Political Insider

Once the strong front-runner for Georgia Governor, Republican candidate John Oxendine’s support proved quite fragile in the final weeks leading up to Georgia’s Primary, as the news narrative abruptly changed last week with Karen Handel’s Sarah Palin endorsement.

Polls leading up to the primary day showed Oxendine falling out of the race entirely, ceeding a second-place run-off spot to Nathan Deal and ultimately when the fingers met the touchscreen yesterday, Oxendine finished 4th behind Eric Johnson.

On the Democratic side, former Democratic Governor Roy Barnes just can’t seem to get enough of the Gold Dome and Democratic voters across the state didn’t stand in his way.  Barnes secured 64% of the Democratic vote yesterday to avoid a run-off.

Closer to home, U.S.  House Representative Hank Johnson easily defeated Vernon Jones in the District 4 Democratic primary.  He will face Liz Carter, who received 55% of the Republican vote, on Election Day – November 2nd.

In the State Superintendent race, Decatur resident Brian Westlake finished third with 59,687 votes behind Joe Martin and Beth Farokhi for the Democratic nod.  Martin will face Republican challenger John Barge in the fall.

For more election results, presented in a readable format, check out the AJC’s results page.

From Hank Johnson’s re-election office…

President Barack Obama announced Thursday his endorsement of Congressman Hank Johnson, who represents Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District.

“Congressman Johnson has done an outstanding job,” said President Obama. “Together, we are fighting to renew our economy. Together, we passed historic health care reform. I am proud to stand with Hank and support his re-election.”

“I am proud to have President Obama’s endorsement,” said Johnson, who is running for a third term. “I am determined to continue our work to move America forward.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This video is making the rounds this morning and is NOT an April Fools joke.  Man oh man…

Johnson’s office told the AJC’s Jim Galloway that he was using “tip over” as a metaphor.

h/t: Fresh Loaf

An email sent out by the Hank Johnson campaign late last week telegraphed to the world that a new poll recently put out by Lake Research Partners shows Johnson with a substantial lead over his potential competition in the District 4 congressional district.

Johnson has a +28 point lead in a four candidate field including Vernon Jones, Connie Stokes, and Lee May.

On the full four way ballot, Johnson has more support than all of his opponents combined, and he is already only 3 points away from the simple majority necessary to avoid a runoff.

And in head to head matchups, Johnson easily defeats his two closest challengers.

According to the poll, Johnson currently holds a 40-point advantage over from DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones and a 39-point lead over DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes.

Since this press release went out, it has been announced that potential challenger and DeKalb County Commissioner Lee May had dropped out of the race to “focus on the county’s deficit.”

It’s still early in the race, but such huge discrepancies may be hard to make up.  Especially for an already well-known challenger like Vernon Jones.