Gingrich Has Apparent Win in Georgia Race : Elections: House GOP whip’s opponent accused him of abusing privileges. Another incumbent may lose his seat, and a third probably faces a runoff.

House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) appeared to be a narrow winner early today in his battle for political survival in a seesaw primary race against a foe who accused him of abusing his congressional privileges.

Another House member from Georgia, former “Dukes of Hazzard” television star Ben Jones, was trailing badly in his bid to retain his seat and was faced with losing it outright, and one of his colleagues in the state’s congressional delegation appeared headed for a runoff.

The results in Georgia seemed to reflect the anti-incumbent mood among voters and the effects of redistricting that had combined to defeat 12 House members in other primaries this year.

Gingrich, a conservative leader with a national reputation for confrontational tactics, was leading his primary foe, former state legislator Harry Clark, 35,096 ( 51%) to 34,294 (49%) with 98% of the precincts reporting. About 3,000 absentee votes were still being counted.

But the Associated Press and other news organizations declared Gingrich the winner.

Gingrich and Clark each had taken slim leads throughout the night as the vote was counted.

“We’re mildly hopeful,” Gingrich aide Tony Blankley said.

Gingrich, who is seeking his eighth term, was hurt in his campaign when the final accounting of the House banking scandal showed that he had written 22 bad checks. In the early stages of the furor over the bank, Gingrich had been a leading critic of its operations.

Clark also accused Gingrich of wasting taxpayers’ money on a chauffeured limousine provided for him as the second-ranking Republican in the House.

Gingrich’s problems were intensified by redistricting--he was running in an entirely redrawn district in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, where national environmental and consumer groups ran television ads encouraging Democrats to cross over to the GOP primary to vote against him.

Tuesday’s primary represented Gingrich’s second consecutive tough race. In the 1990 general election, he defeated his Democratic challenger by less than 1,000 votes.

Gingrich, 49, became nationally known by appearing on the C-SPAN cable network in the early 1980s, making speeches after the House had finished its business for the day. Although the chamber usually was empty, Gingrich and the other Republican conservatives who soon followed his lead attracted a television audience in the millions.

Gingrich’s tactics angered the House Democratic leadership, whom he accused of “corrupt” and “tyrannical” rule of Congress. He also feuded at times with more moderate members of his own party, such as House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel of Illinois, over policy and tactics.

It was Gingrich who first filed the ethics charges that ultimately toppled House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas in 1989. And he led the GOP opposition to the deficit reduction deal in 1990 that included the tax increase that violated President Bush’s “no new taxes” pledge.

In Georgia’s other House races, Jones--a Democrat who played Cooter on “The Dukes of Hazzard”--was in danger of losing the primary to state Sen. Don Johnson. With 77% of the precincts reporting, Johnson had 50% and Jones 32%, with three other candidates splitting the rest of the vote.

Candidates in Georgia’s House primaries needed to win more than 50% of the vote to avoid an Aug. 11 runoff with the second-place finisher.

Johnson based his campaign on an anti-incumbent theme, charging that Jones voted for perks and privileges while ignoring the concerns of his constituents.

A runoff appeared virtually certain in another race featuring an incumbent.

Rep. Charles Hatcher, a Democrat, led in a six-candidate race but was falling well short of the 50%-plus-one-vote mark.

Hatcher, who is white, was running in a district that was redrawn to have a black majority. One of three black challengers was expected to emerge as his primary foe.