In Georgia, a Race Built on Mideast’s Conflict

The Mideast conflict is reverberating this year in an unlikely domestic arena: congressional elections in black Democratic strongholds of the South.

This week, for the second time in the 2002 campaigns, a veteran House Democrat with significant backing from Arab Americans and Muslims faces a strong primary challenge from a candidate supported by Jewish and pro-Israel donors.

Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney, seeking the Democratic nomination Tuesday in Georgia’s 4th Congressional District, hopes to avoid what befell another five-term House member in an earlier primary. Rep. Earl F. Hilliard of Alabama was defeated in June by a challenger who courted pro-Israel constituencies.

The contest in Atlanta between McKinney and Denise Majette, like the Alabama primary, underscores tensions within the African American community over relations between Muslims and Jews, and over U.S. policy in the Middle East.

McKinney, like several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, has opposed resolutions of solidarity with Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians. Twice she has drawn controversy in the aftermath of Sept. 11.

In one episode, she sought to steer toward black charities a donation from a Saudi prince who said the United States should reconsider its pro-Israel policy. In another, she suggested the Bush administration failed to heed warnings about the terrorist attacks because the president’s allies would profit from the ensuing war.

Majette, a former state judge who like McKinney is 47 years old and African American, depicts herself as a mainstream Democrat who would replace an incumbent she calls ineffective.

McKinney has attacked Majette’s record on the bench as “out of control”--likening her in one political advertisement to the Inglewood police officers recently implicated in the videotaped beating of a suspect.

During the campaign, McKinney has been unapologetic. “Quite frankly, my outspokenness is loved by my constituents,” she said this month in a televised debate with Majette. “You will see that on election day.”

The evidence suggests, however, that McKinney is in one of the toughest fights of her career. Independent polling has shown the race to be a tossup. Majette in recent financial disclosures has shown that she has raised more money than the incumbent--$1.1 million, compared with McKinney’s $620,000, as of early August.

Much of the money for both campaigns has come from outside Georgia. McKinney’s donors include the Arab American Leadership Political Action Committee and many individuals with Muslim or Arab surnames. Majette lists many donors with Jewish surnames from across the country.

In addition, McKinney has received donations from black lawmakers and the endorsement of the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan is scheduled to stump for McKinney before election day, his organization’s Web site said, to counter pro-Israel forces backing Majette.

Majette has received contributions from Atlanta baseball great Hank Aaron and Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.), and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has endorsed her.

Merle Black, a political scientist at Emory University, said the race is “very close,” and he predicted that the outcome would be decided by how much African American support Majette can muster. “It’s going to be very racially polarized,” he said.

Black Democratic voters are the largest electoral bloc in the 4th District, which includes most of DeKalb and part of Gwinnett counties in suburban Atlanta. Black said Majette is expected to win support from most white Democratic voters and most Republicans who choose to vote in the open primary.

Whoever triumphs Tuesday is all but certain to go on to victory in November in the heavily Democratic district.

The Democratic candidates were spending the final campaign weekend touring the district as they attacked each other through television and radio ads.

While their candidacies have attracted major support from groups with an interest in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, the two candidates so far apparently have not focused on the Mideast in their campaigns.

Elizabeth Wilson, Majette’s press secretary, said the challenger would focus on McKinney’s record. In 10 years in Congress, Majette charges, McKinney has done little actual legislating and much grandstanding. Wilson claimed Georgia voters are “embarrassed and offended” by McKinney’s statements. Majette, she said, would seek to be a “responsive and responsible” lawmaker. In June, Democrat Artur Davis used much the same formula to unseat Hilliard in Alabama.

Dana Mott, a McKinney spokeswoman, declined to be interviewed. She referred questions on Saturday to another campaign aide who was unavailable for comment. But McKinney, in her public statements, has concentrated her fire on Majette’s record. She has sought to tie her opponent to Republicans and to the insurance industry, claiming that Majette unfairly ruled against several plaintiffs in civil cases.

Analysts say the contest transcends Georgia’s 4th. Chuck Todd, editor-in-chief of the online political journal the Hotline, called the McKinney-Majette matchup “totally an Arab-Israel fight.” Todd said McKinney appeared to be waging an all-out fight for survival but that Majette has “a great chance.”

In another closely watched Georgia primary, Republican voters on Tuesday will unseat one of two House incumbents. Reps. Bob Barr and John Linder, two GOP veterans, were thrown into the same district in the northern suburbs of Atlanta through redistricting.