Federal
Marriage
Amendment
(would
amend
the
U.S.
Constitution
to
ban
gay
marriage)
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
-
For
Jim
Martin
-
Against
Early
Treatment
for
HIV
Act
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
-
Against
Jim
Martin
-
For
Presidents
Emergency
Plan
for
AIDS
Relief
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
-
For
Jim
Martin
-
For
Matthew
Shepard
Act
(would
add
sexual
orientation
and
gender
identity
to
federal
hate
crimes
laws)
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
- Against
Jim
Martin
-
For
Uniting
American
Families
Act
(would
allow
U.S.
citizens
to
sponsor
same-sex
partners
for
immigration)
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
-
Against
Jim
Martin
-
For
Tax
Equality
Domestic
Partnership
medical
coverage
Sen.
Saxby
Chambliss
-
Against
Jim
Martin
-
For
Sources:
Jim
Martin’s
responses
are
based
upon
a
June
interview
and
responses
from
his
campaign.
Chambliss
did
not
respond
to
repeated
requests
for
an
interview;
his
responses
are
based
on
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
Congressional
Scorecard.
Democrat
Jim
Martin
is
counting
on
support
from
President-Elect
Barack
Obama’s
campaign
staff
in
his
bid
to
defeat
GOP
incumbent
Saxby
Chambliss
for
a
coveted
seat
in
the
U.S.
Senate
in
the
Dec.
2
runoff,
but
Atlanta
politicos
say
Martin
has
a
hard
hill
to
climb
even
after
Obama’s
historic
victory.
Chambliss
was
forced
into
a
runoff
with
Martin
after
Libertarian
candidate
Allan
Buckley
drew
3
percent
of
the
vote,
leaving
Chambliss
with
49.8
percent
of
the
vote,
just
shy
of
clinching
the
50
percent
plus
one
vote
needed
for
victory.
University
of
Georgia
political
science
professor
Dr.
Charles
Bullock
called
Chambliss
the
favorite
to
win
on
Dec.
2
because
he
was
the
leading
vote-getter
on
Nov.
4,
he
is
the
incumbent,
and
recent
history
in
Georgia
runoffs
favors
Republicans.
“I
think
Saxby’s
the
favorite.
I
think
we’ve
had
three
previous
[state-wide)
runoffs
and
in
each
one
of
those
a
Republican
won,”
Bullock
said.
“In
the
past,
Republicans
have
done
a
better
job
of
getting
their
voters
to
come
back,
and
if
you
do
that
you
typically
win,
and
so
the
big
challenge
for
the
Democrats
is
to
capitalize
on
what
they
did
for
the
general
election.”
Martin,
who
won
support
from
the
gay
Human
Rights
Campaign
and
National
Stonewall
Democrats,
has
a
long
record
of
fighting
for
HIV
and
gay
issues
from
his
years
in
the
Georgia
General
Assembly.
While
the
Secretary
of
State’s
office
is
reporting
that
Georgia’s
voter
turnout
on
Nov.
4
was
approximately
70
percent,
similar
to
the
2004
presidential
election,
Democrats
made
significant
gains.
Obama
won
477,000
more
votes
and
six
percentage
points
over
Sen.
John
Kerry’s
2004
performance.
Martin
spokesperson
Kate
Hansen
said
the
campaign
began
planning
for
a
runoff
months
ago.
“We’ve
known
that
this
might
be
a
scenario
for
a
while,
so
we’ve
had
plans
for
this,”
Hansen
said.
“We
knew
that
we
had
to
run
an
aggressive
field
campaign,”
Hansen
said
25
Obama
campaign
offices
throughout
the
state
have
stayed
open
to
help
Martin.
Democrats
are
looking
for
temporary
housing
for
roughly
100
campaign
staff
from
neighboring
states
coming
to
Georgia
for
the
runoff.
While
Martin
has
asked
Obama
to
visit
Georgia
on
his
behalf,
no
official
visit
has
been
announced.
The
Chambliss
campaign
and
the
Republican
Party
of
Georgia
did
not
return
calls
seeking
comment.
Sen.
John
McCain
was
slated
to
visit
Georgia
Thursday
to
support
Chambliss.
COURT
OF
APPEALS
Another
race
to
be
decided
on
Dec.
2
is
the
race
for
an
open
seat
on
the
state
Court
of
Appeals
between
attorney
Sara
Doyle
and
Mike
Sheffield.
This
year
Sheffield
answered
a
survey
for
the
Georgia
Christian
Alliance
where
he
disagreed
with
the
court’s
ruling
to
include
“homosexual
sodomy”
under
the
rights
of
privacy,
while
Georgia
Equality
endorsed
Doyle.
Although
it
might
look
like
the
Court
of
Appeals
endorsements
may
seem
partisan,
Doyle
cautioned
against
casting
her
and
her
opponent
along
party
lines.
“That’s
what
people
want
to
try
and
say,
and
I’m
not
sure
that
any
of
that
is
correct
in
any
way,”
Doyle
said.
“There
are
a
lot
of
organizations
out
there
that
say
since
I’m
endorsed
by
Georgia
Equality
I’m
some
liberal
Democrat,
and
that’s
not
really
the
case.
It
just
means
that
I
would
rule
fairly
regardless
of
the
background
of
who
comes
before
me.”
Sheffield
did
not
return
phone
calls
for
this
story.
He
did
reprint
an
article
from
“The
Daily
Report”
on
his
website,
where
he
said
he
was
capable
of
putting
aside
his
personal
opposition
to
gay
marriage
and
rule
fairly.
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