Thread: Republican Graves Wins Georgia U.S. House Election

businessweek.com
Republican Graves Wins Georgia U.S. House Election (Update1)
June 08, 2010, 9:42 PM EDT
(Updates vote totals in third paragraph.)

By Catherine Dodge

June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Tom Graves, a former state representative, won a special election in Georgia to fill the remaining months of former U.S. Representative Nathan Deal’s two-year term, according to the Associated Press.

Graves, 40, who led all candidates in a May 11 vote, beat former state Senator Lee Hawkins, 59, also a Republican, in today’s contest. A runoff between the two was held because neither won more than 50 percent of the vote on May 11.

With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Graves had 58 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Hawkins, according to the AP.

Deal, a Republican who first won his House seat in 1992 and was re-elected in 2008 with 76 percent of the vote, resigned in March to run this year for governor of Georgia. The current governor, Republican Sonny Perdue, is prohibited from running again by term limits.

When Graves is sworn in to his seat, the House’s party breakdown will be 255 Democrats and 178 Republicans, with two vacancies.

Nominees to run in November for the full two-year term that begins in January will be selected in July 20 primaries.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... ate1-.html

Here is Graves position on illegal immigration issues (from his campaign website):
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Solutions to Secure Our Borders

Since September 11, 2001, the United States has enacted many reforms, at home and abroad, to secure our homeland, but unfortunately we've failed to meet the challenge in dealing with the illegal immigration crisis. There are estimated more than ten million illegal immigrants currently in the United States, many with criminal convictions that have received final deportation orders and we are unable to find them. While America's immigration system is badly in need of repair, I oppose any reforms that disregard our current immigration laws or grant amnesty to individuals who've illegally entered the United States. I support reforms to fix a broken system by strengthening our borders and providing more resources, technology and training to the Department of Homeland Security and the Border Patrol to keep illegal immigrants out of our country.

Illegal immigration impacts all of the government services that our tax dollars provide - from our health care system to our schools. I welcome the benefits that legal immigrants bring to the United States, but we have an obligation to protect our borders and ensure the safety of our citizens. We must deport illegal immigrants who are criminals, restrict government benefits for illegal aliens and substantially increase the penalties for committing document and benefit fraud.

The surest way to slow down the tide of illegal entry to our country is to get serious about defending our borders with a strong presence and, just as importantly, enforce the laws already on the books.

While in the Georgia House, I served on the Conference Committee that drafted the final language to what is now known as the strongest illegal immigration legislation in the Nation... and I'll do it again when in Washington.

http://www.gravesforcongress.org/pages/ ... ur-borders

"We must deport illegal immigrants who are criminals"

I take that statement of his to mean he supports immigration reform AKA amnesty....he only wants to deport criminals because in my opinion if he supported deporting all illegal aliens he would have said that....you have to watch how these politicians are playing word games to imply one thing while meaning another...

Originally Posted by PatriotAZGUY

"We must deport illegal immigrants who are criminals"

I take that statement of his to mean he supports immigration reform AKA amnesty....he only wants to deport criminals because in my opinion if he supported deporting all illegal aliens he would have said that....you have to watch how these politicians are playing word games to imply one thing while meaning another...

Correct this guy was supported by "Freedom Works"...also pro-Amnesty.