runoff

Savannah -- Sen. Saxby Chambliss is fighting an attorney's subpoena seeking to question him in a lawsuit by victims of the deadly explosion at a Georgia sugar refinery, prompting fresh attacks by Democrats hoping to oust the Republican senator in a heated runoff.

Savannah attorney Mark Tate -- who calls himself a "partisan Democrat" -- has subpoenaed Chambliss to submit to questions Thursday about whether Imperial Sugar executives enlisted him to help the company avoid blame in the Feb. 7 explosion that killed 14 workers and injured dozens more.

A U.S. Senate runoff apparently was enough to bring early voters to the polls on Monday, the first day most metro Atlanta counties opened offices for early voting. Elections officials across the region reported steady voting and, in some places, lines.

The Gwinnett County elections office said 1,440 people cast ballots Monday. Elections Director Lynn Ledford credited the turnout to interest in the race between Sen. Saxby Chambliss, a Republican from Moultrie, and Democratic challenger Jim Martin of Atlanta.

She also thinks people may have a renewed interest in voting following the general election earlier this month.

Consultant Donna Brazile will advise Democratic Senate candidate's campaign

Jim Martin could only watch last week as top national Republicans descended on Georgia to campaign for his opponent in the Dec. 2 U.S. Senate runoff.

Martin is getting some big-name assistance of his own this week.

Former President Bill Clinton will return to Atlanta on Wednesday to campaign for Martin, who seeks to upset incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Unlike foe, he's no patsy for utilities

Georgia corporations boast many friends in state government -- friends who have ensured the state's consumer protection laws are among the weakest in the country and who have put the profits of business over the wallets of everyday Georgians.

Business and industry don't need any more friends in high places. It's Georgia consumers who need a pal or two.

A Brunswick crowd pledges to work for the U.S. Senate candidate.

BRUNSWICK - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jim Martin exhorted a crowd of about 30 Saturday to work hard to get out the vote in his Dec. 2 runoff election against Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Jim Martin asked voters Saturday to send him to the U.S. Senate to work with President-elect Barack Obama "to move this country forward."

With a little more than two weeks to go before a Dec. 2 runoff against Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss, the Democratic candidate made four stops in Chatham County.

Martin addressed about 50 people from the flag- and bunting-bedecked back porch of a big bungalow that serves as party headquarters.

The challenger portrayed Chambliss as an obstacle to changes that Obama advocates.

Both parties push to get voters back to the polls

Early Saturday morning, a dozen volunteers unlocked the doors at the Clarke County Democratic Committee's headquarters and cranked up Barack Obama's vaunted voter-turnout machine one more time.

They sorted maps and slapped stickers on doorknob hangers as they prepared to go door-to-door in the heavily Democratic Spring Valley and Nellie B neighborhoods, alerting voters to a Dec. 2 runoff election between Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democratic challenger Jim Martin.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a new web ad today following news that Saxby Chambliss has been subpoenaed to testify in the Imperial Sugar company case but refuses to cooperate.  After a tragic explosion at the Imperial Sugar plant near Savannah, Georgia killed 14 people, the company's vice president for operations testified before Congress that Imperial Sugar knew about the safety violations yet did nothing to address them.

Saxby Chambliss is resisting an order to give evidence in a lawsuit by families of victims killed or hurt in the Imperial Sugar Co. explosions and fire earlier this year.