ATLANTA - Financially, the race for Georgia's new 12th Congressional District seat remains competitive.
Democrat Charles "Champ" Walker Jr. is raising and spending more money than his opponent, but Republican Max Burns is doing well enough in the battle for campaign bucks to compete with Mr. Walker in the all-important TV ad war the two candidates are waging in the Augusta and Savannah markets.
Mr. Walker, of Augusta, raised more than $370,000 during August and September, according to a report filed this week with the Federal Election Commission, while spending more than $400,000.
Mr. Burns, of Sylvania, raised just under $230,000 during those two months and spent just under $150,000, according to his report. Still, the Burns camp is encouraged with his showing in a district that Republicans have charged was drawn by the General Assembly's Democratic leaders last year with Mr. Walker in mind.
The candidate's father, Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker Sr., for a time was a member of the legislative conference committee that gave the congressional map its final shape.
"It just goes to show that a district drawn by a father for his son isn't a gimme," said Anne Forbes, spokeswoman for the Burns campaign.
The elongated 12th District stretches 200 miles from Athens to Savannah by way of Augusta, taking in mostly black neighborhoods in all three cities but leaving out predominantly white west Augusta and the island communities of Chatham County.
Black voters have tended to support Democratic candidates. As a result, the district features a "Democratic-performance" rate of 58.4 percent, a figure based on votes for various state and federal Democratic candidates in the 1996, 1998 and 2000 elections. Douglas Moore, a spokesman for the Walker campaign, said the district's Democratic leanings don't mean there aren't plenty of potential Republican donors ready to help a GOP congressional candidate.
He pointed to the short-lived campaign of Republican Cleve Mobley, who dropped out of the race last May after attacks concerning a 1991 arrest for simple battery. The charges against him were later dismissed. Before Mr. Mobley pulled out, however, he was able to raise nearly $125,000 during the first three months of this year, more than any other candidate during that period, including Mr. Walker.
"There's a fund-raising base for Republicans in that district," said Mr. Moore.
Mr. Burns' numbers for August and September don't include fund-raisers held in Augusta and Savannah earlier this month, which featured Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The Walkers held a joint fund-raiser Wednesday night in Atlanta.
"Fund raising is absolutely key. It can't stop," the younger Mr. Walker said.
CAMPAIGN COFFERS
Both candidates for Georgia's new 12th Congressional District seat have raised enough money to get out their messages in a district that stretches from Athens to Savannah via Augusta. Democrat Charles "Champ" Walker Jr. outraised and outspent Republican Max Burns during August and September, but Mr. Burns has more funds left for the stretch:
/Max Burns/Champ Walker
Cash on hand, Sept. 1/$67,155/$146,983
Raised, Sept. 1-Aug. 30/$228,698/$370,516
Spent, Sept. 1-Aug. 30/$148,921/$402,741
Cash on hand, Aug. 30/$146,933/$114,758
Source: Federal Election Commission
Reach Dave Williams at (404) 589-8424 or mnews@mindspring.com.
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