The Nation - News from Aug. 11, 1988

Former actor Ben Jones, who played a mechanic on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” won a bid to face an embattled Republican congressman in Georgia this fall. In other primaries, Georgia voters picked Democratic attorney David Worley, 30, to take on Republican Rep. Newt Gingrich, a five-term congressman who has led efforts to force an investigation of House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.). Colorado had primaries in six congressional districts, but only one pitched battle. State Rep. David Bath defeated former Secretary of State Mary Estill Buchanan, who lost to Gary Hart in the 1980 Senate race. Jones, 47, had been rated the Democratic favorite against Rep. Pat Swindell in Georgia’s 4th District race, both as a result of his 1986 campaign effort and his role as the mechanic “Cooter” on “The Dukes of Hazzard” television show.