2010 United States Senate election in Georgia

2010 United States Senate election in Georgia

← 2004 November 2, 2010 2016 →

Nominee Johnny Isakson Mike Thurmond Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,489,904 996,516 Percentage 58.31% 39.00%

County results Precinct results Isakson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Thurmond:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      40–50%      50%      No data

U.S. senator before election Johnny Isakson Republican Elected U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson Republican

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v t e

The 2010 United States Senate election in Georgia took place on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson won re-election to a second term.^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• RJ Hadley, chief of staff to the Rockdale County Commission
• Mike Thurmond, Commissioner of Labor

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Michael Thurmond	RJ Hadley	Undecided
Survey USA	June 14–17, 2010	68%	11%	22%
Survey USA	July 7–8, 2010	64%	13%	23%

Results

Democratic primary results^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Thurmond	297,226	84.3%
	Democratic	RJ Hadley	55,159	15.7%
Total votes			352,385	100.0%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Johnny Isakson, incumbent Class III U.S. Senator

Results

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson (incumbent)	558,298	100.00%
Total votes			558,298	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Chuck Donovan (L), airline pilot^[4]
• Johnny Isakson (R), incumbent Class III U.S. Senator
• Mike Thurmond (D), Commissioner of Labor

Campaign

Thurmond was the underdog in trying to become the first African-American to serve Georgia in the U.S. Senate. Thurmond claimed, "Polls are irrelevant. As everyone knows, the only poll that counts is the election on November 2."^[5] Isakson defended his record, saying, "Big business is not evil. If you didn't have big business, you wouldn't have jobs in America today."^[6] Despite the fact all political prognosticators classified the race as being safe for Isakson by August 20, he stated that Thurmond was a potentially formidable candidate, and that he would take nothing for granted.^[7]

Debates

• October 24^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Cook Political Report[9]	Solid R	October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[10]	Safe R	October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[11]	Safe R	October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Safe R	October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[13]	Safe R	October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll source	Dates administered	Johnny Isakson (R)	Michael Thurmond (D)	Chuck Donovan (L)	Other*	Undecided
Rasmussen Reports	April 22, 2010	51%	35%	––	––	––
Rasmussen Reports[permanent dead link]	May 20, 2010	57%	30%	––	6%	8%
Rasmussen Reports	August 11, 2010	55%	41%	––	2%	2%
Insider Advantage	August 17, 2010	47%	35%	7%	––	11%
Survey USA	September 10–12, 2010	56%	34%	6%	––	4%
Mason-Dixon	September 19, 2010	52%	33%	4%	––	11%
Rasmussen Reports	September 21, 2010	52%	36%	6%	––	6%
Insider Advantage	September 27, 2010	61%	29%	3%	––	7%
Rasmussen Reports	October 6, 2010	53%	38%	5%	1%	3%
SurveyUSA	October 21–24, 2010	58%	34%	5%	––	3%
Rasmussen Reports	October 24, 2010	59%	29%	5%	3%	4%
Mason-Dixon[permanent dead link]	October 26–28, 2010	56%	33%	4%	0%	7%

^{* Note: There is only one "other" candidate: Chuck Donovan.}

Fundraising

Candidate (party)	Receipts	Disbursements	Cash on hand	Debt
Johnny Isakson (R)	$5,943,285	$5,650,138	$2,588,284	$0
Michael Thurmond (D)	$288,666	$202,610	$86,055	$5,220
Source: Federal Election Commission[14]

Results

United States Senate election in Georgia, 2010^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Johnny Isakson (incumbent)	1,489,904	58.31%	+0.43%
	Democratic	Michael Thurmond	996,516	39.00%	-0.98%
	Libertarian	Chuck Donovan	68,750	2.69%	+0.55%
	Write-in		88	0.00%	N/A
Total votes			2,555,258	100.00%
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Rockdale (largest town: Conyers)
• Terrell (largest city: Dawson)
• Bibb (largest city: Macon)
• Jefferson (largest city: Louisville)
• Warren (largest city: Warrenton)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Baker (largest city: Newton)

See also

• List of United States senators from Georgia

References

External links

• Elections Division of the Georgia Secretary of State
• U.S. Congress candidates for Georgia at Project Vote Smart
• Georgia U.S. Senate from OurCampaigns.com
• Campaign contributions from Open Secrets
• 2010 Georgia Senate General Election: Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) vs Michael Thurmond (D) graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
• Election 2010: Georgia Senate from Rasmussen Reports
• 2010 Georgia Senate Race from Real Clear Politics
• 2010 Georgia Senate Race from CQ Politics
• Race profile from The New York Times

Official campaign websites (archived)

• Chuck Donovan for U.S. Senate
• RJ Hadley for U.S. Senate
• Johnny Isakson for U.S. Senate incumbent
• Mike Thurmond for U.S. Senate