Senate race may sap GOP strength

ATLANTA - Just when Republicans were getting a chance to wield political power in the Georgia Capitol after a long dry spell, the allure of higher office could cost them some of their most experienced lawmakers.

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Blame it on Democratic Sen. Zell Miller, whose announcement that he will not seek re-election in 2004 triggered a career assessment scramble among the state's congressional delegation and state legislators.

The Senate race is expected to entice at least two congressmen, whose seats, in turn, could be up for grabs. That could prove costly for Republicans, who this year gained a power base in the Legislature by taking control of the state Senate.

Three Republican state senators are lined up to seek the congressional district seat that Republican Rep. Johnny Isakson will vacate when he runs for Mr. Miller's Senate seat.

And the leader of the Republicans in the House is among those expected to run for the congressional seat of Republican Mac Collins, who has also entered the Senate race.

"This sounds like what used to happen to Democrats every eight years. You'd have this mass exodus of Democratic senators who would all want to run for lieutenant governor," said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock.

The result was a fresh crop of newbie legislators who had to learn the ropes of government while veterans ran rings around them.

Among those state senators eyeing Mr. Isakson's seat are Tom Price of Roswell, the second-ranked Republican in the Senate; Chuck Clay of Marietta, a former chairman of the state Republican Party, and Robert Lamutt of Marietta, a seven-year veteran.

The race for Mr. Collins' seat already has attracted the attention of House Republican Leader Lynn Westmoreland of Sharpsburg, but several Republican senators also have expressed interest.

If Republicans manage to hang onto their Senate majority in the fall 2004 elections, they will begin the 2005 legislative session with a less experienced and perhaps a less powerful caucus.

Lawmakers learning their jobs are less influential than those who know the ropes, Mr. Bullock said.

"If you've been there, you've established power based on your expertise or because people look to you. These things kind of build up to make you essentially a more powerful legislator. Seniority can become a bank account that you can draw upon later on."

--From the Monday, May 19, 2003 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle