1st-term congresswoman forces runoff

Georgia is increasingly leaning Republican.
ATLANTA (AP) -- A first-term black congresswoman running on a shoestring campaign and a wealthy white businessman recruited to run by former President Carter will meet in three weeks in a runoff for the Democratic nomination to succeed their party's retiring maverick Sen. Zell Miller.
Rep. Denise Majette, a former judge who won national attention two years ago by ousting firebrand Rep. Cynthia McKinney, finished first in Tuesday's election, leading millionaire entrepreneur Cliff Oxford, but she failed to reach the 50 percent threshold needed to win the nomination outright.
Republican challenger
The winner will face a stern test in November against Republican nominee Rep. Johnny Isakson in a state which increasingly leans Republican. Isakson, a veteran Georgia politician who replaced House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Congress, defeated two rivals to win the GOP nomination outright.
In North Carolina, former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles faced no opposition and five-term GOP Rep. Richard Burr cruised to the nomination in the race for Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards' Senate seat. Two Republicans advanced to a runoff to face Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who easily won his primary.
In another Georgia primary, McKinney, a firebrand who lost her House seat two years ago to Majette in a backlash spawned by her incendiary remarks about President Bush, won a chance to take her old seat back in an Atlanta suburb. She beat five other Democrats with enough votes to avoid a runoff.
Majette took 41 percent to Oxford's 21 percent to force the runoff in her race. If she wins, she would be the state's first black Senate nominee.
Democrats had been unable to attract a top-name candidate. Oxford, with his ability to self-fund the effort, was recruited by several top national Democrats, including Carter.
Isakson fended off challenges from black businessman Herman Cain and fellow Congressman Mac Collins to win his primary without a runoff. Isakson approaches the November election as "almost a prohibitive favorite," said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.
"He's skilled, he's experienced, he's going to have plenty of money. This is going to be a state that votes for George Bush. All the arrows are pointing in his direction," Bullock said.
With 99 percent of precincts counted, Isakson had 53 percent to Cain's 26 percent and Collins' 21 percent. Isakson had been the race's favorite for months and raised as much money as his two rivals combined. The only question had been whether he would win without a runoff.
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