The 2000 United States Senate special election in Georgia was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...

, who was appointed by Governor

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th Govern ...

to replace the deceased

Paul Coverdell Paul Douglas Coverdell (January 20, 1939 – July 18, 2000) was an American politician who served as a United States senator from Georgia, elected for the first time in 1992 and re-elected in 1998, and director of the Peace Corps from 1989 until ...

, overwhelmingly won re-election to serve the remainder of the term. Miller defeated Republican

Mack Mattingly Mack Francis Mattingly (born January 7, 1931) is an American diplomat and politician who served one term as a United States senator from Georgia, the first Republican to have served in the U.S. Senate from that state since Reconstruction. Early ...

, a former U.S. Senator in a landslide of over 20 points, carrying 110 of the state's 120 counties. This was the last time until 2021 that a Democrat would win a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia, when

Raphael Warnock Raphael Gamaliel Warnock ( ; born July 23, 1969) is an American Baptist pastor and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he assumed office on January 20, 2021. Since 20 ...

won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to fill the same seat and

Jon Ossoff Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Ossoff was previously a documentary filmmaker and investigativ ...

won the regular election for the Class 2 Senate seat. It also remains the last time that a Democrat would win a Senate race in the state by double-digits.

Candidates

''Note: This election was a non-partisan election due to it being a special election. Each candidate ran without a party. The parties below reflect which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.'' * Ben Ballenger (Republican) * Jeff Gates (Green) * Paul Robert MacGregor (Libertarian) * Winnie Walsh (Independent) *

, former Ambassador to

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

and former U.S. Senator (Republican) *

, incumbent U.S. Senator and former Governor (Democratic) * Bobby Wood (Republican)

Campaign

One of the biggest campaign issues was

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

. Miller attacked Mattingly for supporting a raise in the retirement age. The Republican fought back by connecting him to liberal Democrat

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

of Massachusetts, and on his vote to block legislation aimed at protecting Social Security. Mattingly said he would vote for

Texas Governor The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

for president, who was very popular in the state and led Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...

in many Georgia polls. Mattingly then asked Miller who he was supporting in the presidential election. Miller conceded he would vote for Gore because he helped him when he was governor including

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

relief, welfare reform, and the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. "That does not mean I agree with all of his policies," he concluded. In early October, a poll showed Miller leading with 59% of the vote, despite the fact that Bush was leading Gore by a double-digit margin.

Debates

Complete video of debate
October 15, 2000

Results

References

{{2000 United States elections Georgia 2000 Georgia 2000 2000 Special

Georgia Special Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

United States Senate Special United States Senate 2000

Candidates

Campaign

Debates

Results

See also

References