2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia

The 2000 Georgia United States Senate special election was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Zell Miller, who was appointed by Governor Roy Barnes to replace the deceased Paul Coverdell, overwhelmingly won re-election to serve the remainder of the term. Miller defeated Republican Mack Mattingly, a former U.S. Senator, by over 20 percentage points, carrying 110 of the state's 120 counties. As of 2020, this is the last election in which a Democrat was elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia.

2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia
November 7, 2000
 
Nominee Zell Miller Mack Mattingly
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,413,224 920,478
Percentage 58.1% 37.9%
County Results
Miller:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Mattingly:      40-50%      50-60%
U.S. senator before election

Zell Miller
Democratic

 Elected U.S. Senator

Zell Miller
Democratic

Elections in Georgia

Candidates

Note: This election was a non-partisan election due to it being a special election. Each candidate ran without a party. The parties below reflect which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.

Democratic Party
  • Zell Miller, incumbent U.S. Senator and former Governor

Republican Party

Libertarian Party
  • Paul Robert MacGregor

Green Party
  • Jeff Gates

Independents
  • Winnie Walsh

Campaign

One of the biggest campaign issues was Social Security. Miller attacked Mattingly for supporting a raise in the retirement age.[1] The Republican fought back by connecting him to liberal Democrat Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, and on his vote to block legislation aimed at protecting Social Security. Mattingly said he would vote for Texas Governor George W. Bush for president, who was very popular in the state and led Vice President Al Gore in many Georgia polls. Mattingly then asked Miller who he was supporting in the presidential election. Miller conceded he would vote for Gore because he helped him when he was governor including drought relief, welfare reform, and the Atlanta Olympics. "That does not mean I agree with all of his policies," he concluded.[2] In early October, a poll showed Miller leading with 59% of the vote, despite the fact that Bush was leading Gore by a double-digit margin.[3]

Debates

Results
General election results[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Nonpartisan Zell Miller (incumbent) 1,413,224 58.19% +13.04%
Nonpartisan Mack Mattingly 920,478 37.90% -14.47%
Nonpartisan Paul Robert MacGregor 25,942 1.07% -1.41%
Nonpartisan Ben Ballenger 22,975 0.95% +0.95%
Nonpartisan Jeff Gates 21,249 0.88% +0.88%
Nonpartisan Bobby Wood 12,499 0.51% +0.51%
Nonpartisan Winnie Walsh 11,875 0.49% +0.49%
Majority 492,746 20.29% +13.07%
Total votes 2,428,242 100.00% 0.00%
Democratic hold

See also
  • United States Senate elections, 2000

References
  1. "Content no longer available". nl.newsbank.com.
  2. "The Augusta Chronicle: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Augusta, GA". The Augusta Chronicle.
  3. "Content no longer available". nl.newsbank.com.
  4. "General Election Results, Georgia Secretary of State" (PDF).
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