February 16, 1999
Web posted at: 6:19 p.m. EST (2319 GMT)

ROSWELL, Georgia (February 16) -- When former House speaker Newt Gingrich retired last year, he left some very large shoes to be filled in Georgia's 6th congressional district. It is an affluent and conservative district just north of Atlanta.

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich retired last year. A special election will be held next week to fill his congressional seat.

Eight candidates, most of them political novices, are hoping to fill those shoes by winning next week's ostensibly non-partisan race. If no one wins a majority, the top two candidates would face a run-off.

Christina Jeffrey, a college professor, is the only woman in the race. She gained notoriety a few years ago when she was hired, then fired by Gingrich as House historian. She was dismissed when it was disclosed that she said a course on the Holocaust should have included the Nazi point of view.

She is conservative to the core and says the president should have been convicted. But she calls impeachment a non-issue with the voters in the 6th district.

"It's just not something they're expecting this representative to be involved in," Jeffrey said.

Johnny Isakson, a longtime state legislator and the acknowledged front-runner in the race, agrees. He says the voters here aren't really asking about Monica Lewinsky, the impeachment or the Senate trial.

"I think they found a political race sort of a refreshing alternative to what they've watched on TV the last few months," Isakson says.

"I'm the guy that's running for the seat that Newt didn't want," Gary Pelphrey, a Democratic candidate says.

Pelphrey, a lawyer who lost to Gingrich in a landslide last November, opposed the president's impeachment, but has not made that part of his platform.

"It's part of my campaign in the sense that we've had just up to here with politics as usual," Pelphrey says gesturing with his hand over his head.

At one candidates' forum, the impeachment issue came up only once. On the other hand, the candidates spent plenty of time on Social Security, school vouchers, water quality and gun control -- issues that resonate strongly with voters in the 6th district.

This may be the first congressional race since the impeachment trial, but it seems clear that it cannot fairly be considered a referendum on the president's acquittal.

Tuesday, February 16, 1999

• Hillary confirms she is considering Senate bid
• Impeachment not a factor in the race for Gingrich's seat
• Affirmative action foes target expected nominee
• Tripp had 'no choice' but to make the tapes
• Transcript: Linda Tripp on 'Larry King Live'
• Document: Closed-door statements of Abraham | Akaka | Allard | Ashcroft | Biden | Bond | Boxer | Brownback | Bryan | Bunning | Burns | Byrd | Campbell | Cleland | Collins | Conrad | Craig | Crapo | DeWine | Dodd | Domenici | Dorgan | Durbin | Edwards | Feingold | Fitzgerald | Frist | Gorton | Graham | Grams | Grassley | Hagel | Harkin | Helms | Hollings | Hutchinson | Hutchison | Inhofe | Jeffords | Johnson | Kennedy | Kerrey | Kerry | Kohl | Kyl | Lautenberg | Leahy | Levin | Lieberman | Lincoln | Lugar | Mack | McCain | McConnell | Mikulski | Moynihan | Murkowski | Murray | Reid | Robb | Rockefeller | Roth | Sarbanes | Smith | Snowe | Specter | Stevens | Thompson | Thurmond | Voinovich | Wellstone | Wyden
• Judge in Jones case may cite Clinton for contempt
• Republicans team up to push tax cuts
• Education secretary suggests plan for national licensing of teachers
• Case closed: What will talk radio talk about now?
• Clinton-Lewinsky saga proved humbling for pundits, pollsters

ARCHIVES

Search CNN/AllPolitics by           Enter keyword(s)       go    help