Gingrich Wins Narrow Victory in Georgia Primary

House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) eked out a razor-thin election victory Tuesday, but Rep. Ben Jones (D-Ga.) was not so fortunate--the former television actor who played Cooter on the “Dukes of Hazzard” series lost his primary race.

A third member of Georgia’s House delegation was forced into a runoff. Democrat Charles Hatcher wrote one of the largest numbers of bad checks on the now-defunct House bank.

Gingrich, a leader of the national conservative movement for more than a decade, also was caught up in the check controversy. After initially accusing House Democratic leaders of attempting to sweep the scandal under the rug, Gingrich was chagrined when a final accounting showed he had written 22 bad checks on the bank.

His primary foe, former state legislator Herman Clark, aired advertisements that criticized Gingrich for the bad checks, as well as his support of a congressional pay raise and his former use of a taxpayer-financed chauffeured limousine.

Gingrich, who was forced by redistricting to run in a new district north of Atlanta, barely survived the challenge. Complete but unofficial results showed Gingrich winning by only 980 votes. He had 35,682 votes, or 51%, to Clark’s 34,702, or 49%.

Complete but unofficial returns in the Democratic primary showed state Sen. Don Johnson had 53% of the vote, Jones 30%. Three other candidates split the remaining votes.