Whether it's Republican Max Burns or Democrat Charles "Champ" Walker Jr., the first man to represent the 12th Congressional District seems certain to draw national attention.
A win by Mr. Walker, the son of state Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker of Augusta, could be part of a dramatic shift of power in Georgia's congressional ranks. Because of a newly drawn congressional district map, political analysts have predicted that the Democratic Party could take six or seven of Georgia's 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including the 12th District seat. Republicans now hold eight of the state's 11 seats.
A win by the conservative Mr. Burns, a Georgia Southern University professor from Screven County, would make news as a major upset in a district that was drawn to guarantee election of a Democrat. In the 2000 presidential election, about 56 percent of the district's voters went for Al Gore and 64 percent voted for Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes in the gubernatorial race.
The long and narrow 12th District, created by a Democrat-controlled Legislature, stretches south and east from Athens to include parts of Augusta and Savannah, about 200 miles apart.
About 39 percent of the district's voters are black, which would make a win by Mr. Burns an even bigger upset, notes University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. Black voters overwhelming vote Democratic, he said.
But a recent poll indicates that Mr. Burns could be on the verge of pulling off an upset: In a recent survey of 402 likely voters, Republican pollsters The Tarrance Group found that 48 percent favored Mr. Burns, 33 percent favored Mr. Walker, and 18 percent were undecided. Earlier this month, the same pollsters called the race a dead heat.
It would not be the first upset for Mr. Burns. His primary opponent, Barbara Dooley of Athens, raised three times as much money as Mr. Burns, but the professor parlayed strong showings in Augusta and the district's rural counties into a razor-thin win.
Mr. Walker won a September runoff with state Rep. Ben Allen, of Augusta, to take the Democratic nomination from a field that originally had seven candidates.
If Mr. Burns wins, "he's going to have a very vigorous challenge from somebody" in the heavily Democratic district in 2004, Dr. Bullock said.
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