Republican David Perdue trounces Georgia Democrats’ U.S. Senate hopes

Democrats’ hopes to play offense in Georgia fizzled Tuesday as their candidates for both U.S. Senate and governor lost to Republicans.

Republican and former business executive David Perdue trounced Democrat Michelle Nunn in the race for the open Senate seat, avoiding a potential runoff in the three-way race by easily clearing the 50% threshold.

And Democrat Jason Carter, grandson of former President Carter, fell short in his bid to oust Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.

A demographic shift in the Peach State, with an influx of African American and minority voters – and a declining white electorate – encouraged Democrats to seize on the potential to turn the red state purple. Democrats registered more than 130,000 new black and minority voters, and pushed turnout from those groups.

In a tough year for the party, the Senate race offered Democrats their best chance for a pickup with the seat vacated by the retirement of Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

But the political climate against President Obama and his policies appeared stronger. The third candidate in the race, Libertarian Amanda Swafford, did not draw enough votes to force Perdue and Nunn into a runoff.

Nunn and Perdue were both political newcomers from famous political families, and Nunn gained traction by hammering Perdue over his career as an executive at companies that outsourced jobs in a state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate. Perdue countered that the nonprofit executive – Nunn ran former President George H.W. Bush’s Points of Light foundation -- would be a rubber stamp for Obama’s agenda.

Carter, a boyish-looking state senator, promised the state could do better than Deal’s handling of the state’s economy. But the governor withstood ethics questions over a past business deal to win a second term.

@LisaMascaro