Johnny Isakson

John Hardy “Johnny” Isakson (born December 28, 1944) is the junior United States Senator from Georgia and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he represented Georgia's 6th congressional district in the House.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Isakson served in the Georgia Air National Guard (1966–1972) and graduated from the University of Georgia. He opened a real estate branch for Northside Realty and later served 22 years as the company's president. After a failed bid for the Georgia House of Representatives in 1974, he was elected in 1976. He served five terms, including two as minority leader. Isakson was the Republican candidate for governor of Georgia in 1990, but lost. Two years later, he was elected to the Georgia Senate and served one term. He unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary in the 1996 U.S. Senate elections.

After 6th District Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich resigned, Isakson ran in the February 1999 special election to succeed him, winning by a 40-point margin. He ran for the U.S. Senate in November 2004 after conservative Democratic incumbent Zell Miller opted not to run for re-election. With the backing of much of Georgia's Republican establishment, he won both the primary and general elections by large margins. He is serving his second term after re-election to the Senate in 2010.

Early life, education, and real estate career
Isakson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Julia (née Baker) and Edwin Andrew Isakson, a Greyhound bus driver. His paternal grandparents were of Swedish descent, and his paternal grandfather was born in Östersund. His mother is of mostly British ancestry which has been in the American South since the colonial era. He currently lives in the nearby suburb of Marietta. He served in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972, leaving service as a staff sergeant. Shortly after graduating from the University of Georgia, he opened the first Cobb County office of Northside Realty, a prominent Atlanta-area real estate firm. He became company president in 1979, a post he held for 22 years, during which Northside became the biggest independent real estate company in Georgia.

Early political career (1974-1998)
He said that like his earliest days in real estate, the first few years in politics was an "absolute failure." In 1972, he ran for a seat on the Cobb County Commission and lost because it was a solidly Democratic area.

Georgia House of Representatives
In 1974, Isakson first ran for the Georgia House of Representatives in an eastern Cobb County district and lost. He ran again in 1976 and won. He served seven terms in the House. He won re-election unopposed in 1984 and 1988. In the last four terms (1983-1990) he was the Republican Minority leader. In 1988, he was Co-Chair for U.S. Senator Bob Dole's presidential primary campaign.

1990 gubernatorial election
He was the Republican candidate for Governor of Georgia in 1990. He won the Republican primary with 74% of the vote in a four candidate field. In the general election, he was defeated by Democratic Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller 53%-45%. Miller's campaign was managed by James Carville. Miller ran on a pledge to start a state lottery and use the revenue for public schools. Isakson proposed a ballot referendum on the lottery.

Georgia Senate
In 1992, he was elected to the Georgia Senate. He ran on criticism of Republican President George H.W. Bush saying that it was a "Reagan Democratic recession." In 1996, he decided not to run for re-election to a second term and instead run for the United States Senate.

1996 U.S. Senate election
In 1996, he ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Democrat U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. However when Isakson announced his candidacy, he declared that he was the abortion rights Republican candidate, a calculated risk since most Georgia Republicans are anti-abortion. He ran a television ad announcing his support for abortion rights. Isakson finished second in the primary election with 35% of the vote, but the winner Guy Millner, a millionaire businessman, failed to get a majority of the vote getting 42%. Therefore, per Georgia law he was forced into a primary runoff election. During this time, the 1996 Summer Olympic Games opened in Atlanta. He said he was as "busy as a badminton player against China." Millner defeated Isakson 53%-47%. Millner lost to Democrat Max Cleland.

Elections
In November 1998, 6th District U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich faced a revolt in his caucus after the Republicans lost five seats in the midterm elections. Amid the ruckus, Gingrich announced on Friday after the Tuesday elections not only that he would not run for a third term as Speaker, but he would also not take his seat for an eleventh term beginning in January 1999. Isakson ran for the seat in a special election in February. He raised $1 million and put in $500,000 of his own wealth and spent far more than any of his five challengers. He won the election with 65% of the vote, up forty points ahead of the second place finisher Christina Fawcett Jeffrey.
 * 1999

He won re-election to his first full term with 75% of the vote.
 * 2000

He won re-election to his second full term with 80% of the vote.
 * 2002

Committee assignments
He was a member of the U.S. House Education Committee, when U.S. Congressman John Boehner was Chairman and when they passed the No Child Left Behind Act.

Elections

 * 2004

In early 2003, conservative Democratic U.S. Senator Zell Miller—who had been appointed to fill out the term of the late Republican Senator Paul Coverdell and elected to the post in his own right in 2000—declared his intention not to run for a full term in the Senate in 2004. Isakson immediately entered the race. He quickly picked up the endorsements of much of the Republican establishment in Georgia, as well as that of President George W. Bush. He also picked up support of social conservatives including the Georgia Christian Coalition, in part due to his rightward turn on social issues since 1990 (see below). Miller also endorsed Isakson and campaigned for him. He faced 8th District U.S. Congressman Mac Collins and businessman Herman Cain in the primary.

It was initially thought Isakson would face a difficult primary since many socially conservative Republicans still felt chagrin at Isakson's declared support for abortion rights in 1990. However, he won the Republican primary with 53%, with Cain a distant second and Collins third. In the general election, he easily defeated the Democratic candidate, 4th District Congresswoman Denise Majette, by 18 points. Isakson's election marked the first time in Georgia's history that both of the state's U.S. Senate seats had been held by Republicans, as Saxby Chambliss had won the other seat by defeating Nunn's successor, Max Cleland, two years earlier.


 * 2010

In 2010, he was unopposed in the primary. Isakson won re-election with 58% of the vote in 2010, defeating State Commissioner of Labor Mike Thurmond.

Tenure
Since his election to the House, Isakson shifted to the right on social issues. He now identifies as pro-life, anti-gay marriage and pro-gun rights. On the Issues, a nonpartisan Web site that rates candidates, labels Isakson "a libertarian-leaning conservative." When he ran in the 6th District in 1999, Isakson largely ignored the issue of abortion; however, in 2003–2004, in his campaign for the Senate, he took the same position as President Bush, saying we needed to "create a culture of life" in America.

Isakson has been given an "A" rating by the National Rifle Association, the "Hero of the Taxpayer" award by Citizens Against Government Waste, and a "92" rating on a scale of 100 by the Christian Coalition of America (incidentally, the same score Mac Collins received). He also received a "100" rating from the American Conservative Union. National Journal recently rated him the 7th most conservative Senator in the Senate. In the Senate, Isakson is currently working to oppose the Castle-DeGette Stem Cell Bill by offering an alternative that does not allow for the destruction of a human embryo. This alternative legislation recently garnered a veto-proof 70-vote majority. Isakson favors tougher border security to address the immigration issue. He is credited for developing the "Isakson Principle," which denies the legalization of status to any illegal immigrant or the creation of a temporary worker program unless the Secretary of Homeland Security certifies ("triggers") to the president and Congress that measurable border security provisions are in place. However, Isakson was criticized by advocates of immigration reduction for working on the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007, which was criticized by some as an amnesty.

Contrary to his critics' assertions, Isakson played a role only in drafting the border security sections of the bill (the previously mentioned "Isakson Principle") and stated from the beginning that he was withholding his support for the bill until the final product was produced. His vote of "Nay" on the final motion to end debate amounted to a vote to kill the bill. He and Senator Chambliss also called on President Bush to send an emergency supplemental border security spending bill to the Congress.

Committee assignments

 * Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
 * Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
 * Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
 * Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance
 * Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
 * Subcommittee on Science and Space
 * Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
 * Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
 * Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety (Ranking Member)
 * Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
 * Committee on Foreign Relations
 * Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
 * Subcommittee on African Affairs (Ranking Member)
 * Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
 * Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
 * Committee on Veterans' Affairs
 * Select Committee on Ethics (Vice Chairman)

Personal life
Isakson and his wife Dianne have three children: John, Kevin, and Julie.

Electoral history
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" !|Year ! !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Democrat !|Votes !|Pct !
 * + Georgia's 6th congressional district: Results 1998–2002
 * 1999 special election
 * |Johnny Isakson*
 * align="right" |51,548
 * |65.1%
 * Other candidates
 * align="right"|27,665
 * 34.9%
 * 2000
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |256,595
 * |75%
 * |Brett DeHart
 * align="right" |86,666
 * |25%
 * 2002
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |163,525
 * |80%
 * |Jeff Weisberger
 * align="right" |41,204
 * |20%
 * 2002
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |163,525
 * |80%
 * |Jeff Weisberger
 * align="right" |41,204
 * |20%
 * |Jeff Weisberger
 * align="right" |41,204
 * |20%
 * |20%

* Newt Gingrich resigned his term on January 3, 1999, and Isakson won the special election to succeed him. Candidates from all parties appeared on the same ballot; their party affiliations were not listed.

{|class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%" !|Year ! !|Democrat !|Votes !|Pct ! !|Republican !|Votes !|Pct ! !|3rd Party !|Party !|Votes !|Pct !
 * + Georgia Senator (Class III) results: 2004–2010
 * 2004
 * |Denise L. Majette
 * align="right" |1,287,690
 * |40%
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |1,864,202
 * |58%
 * |Allen Buckley
 * |Libertarian
 * align="right" |69,051
 * align="right" |2%
 * 2010
 * |Mike Thurmond
 * align="right" |996,516
 * |39%
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |1,489,904
 * |58.3%
 * |Chuck Donovan
 * |Libertarian
 * align="right" |68,750
 * align="right" |2.7%
 * |Johnny Isakson
 * align="right" |1,489,904
 * |58.3%
 * |Chuck Donovan
 * |Libertarian
 * align="right" |68,750
 * align="right" |2.7%
 * align="right" |68,750
 * align="right" |2.7%

* Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2004, write-ins received 31 votes and Matthew Jamison received 7 votes.

= Resources =