Denise L. Majette (born May 18, 1955) is a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician from the
stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
.
Born in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, she attended
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
and completed a
Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree at
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1979. A resident of the Atlanta suburb of
Stone MountainStone Mountain is a suburb of Atlanta in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 7,145 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
since 1983, Majette was appointed by Governor
Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
to the State Court of
DeKalb CountyDeKalb County is located in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2000, the population of the county was 686,712. In 2008, its population was estimated to have risen to 739,956. Its county seat is the city of Decatur...
in 1993.
She resigned from the judgeship in 2002 to run for the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in , which is based in DeKalb County.
Denise L. Majette (born May 18, 1955) is a
DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician from the
stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
.
Born in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, she attended
Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
and completed a
Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree at
Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1979. A resident of the Atlanta suburb of
Stone MountainStone Mountain is a suburb of Atlanta in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 7,145 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
since 1983, Majette was appointed by Governor
Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
to the State Court of
DeKalb CountyDeKalb County is located in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2000, the population of the county was 686,712. In 2008, its population was estimated to have risen to 739,956. Its county seat is the city of Decatur...
in 1993.
She resigned from the judgeship in 2002 to run for the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in , which is based in DeKalb County. In a major upset, she defeated 10-year
incumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Cynthia McKinneyCynthia Ann McKinney is a U.S. politician and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
in the Democratic
primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
. McKinney had attracted controversy due to her comments after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and her reported backing by Arab-American groups. The primary was also influenced by crossover-Republicans, i.e. Republicans who used their right to vote in a Democratic caucus in Georgia. It was stunning enough that Majette, who had never run in a partisan contest before, was able to defeat the seemingly entrenched McKinney. Majette's campaign had double the money of McKinney's, manily the result of intense Jewish and out of county support. Majette trounced McKinney by a 58% to 42% margin. Majette's upset win was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district. Two years later she would lose her seat back to McKinney.
Majette would have likely been able to keep her congressional seat for as long as she wanted, given the 4th's heavy Democratic tilt (only the neighboring Atlanta-based 5th is considered more Democratic). However, after only one term, she decided to run for the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
seat being vacated by
Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, who had been appointed to the seat in 2000 to replace the late Republican
Paul CoverdellPaul Douglas Coverdell was 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 1991...
. Miller's decision not to seek a full term in the Senate had caught the Georgia Democrats by surprise. Majette's announcement that she would seek to replace Miller also caught Democrats by surprise, as she was not on anyone's call list when Democrats began seeking a candidate to replace Miller. Further skepticism among Democrats about the viability of her candidacy surfaced when she announced that "God" had told her to run for the Senate.
Majette finished first in the Democratic primary but was forced into a runoff against millionaire businessman Cliff Oxford, which she won. She received important endorsements from Senator
Mary LandrieuMary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana, and is the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate for Louisiana...
of Louisiana and Senator
Debbie StabenowDeborah Ann "Debbie" Stabenow , née Greer, is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan.In the 2000 election, Stabenow defeated the Republican incumbent, Senator Spencer Abraham. She is the first female U.S. Senator from Michigan...
of Michigan, along with many others in Washington who campaigned and raised money for Majette. Her Senate campaign slogan was "I'll be nobody's Senator, but yours."
In the general election, despite her vigorous attacks against her
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
opponent, 6th District Congressman
Johnny IsaksonJohn Hardy "Johnny" Isakson , is an American politician, who has been the Republican junior United States Senator from Georgia since 2005. Previously, he represented in the House from 1999 to 2005.-Background:...
, Majette was soundly defeated, losing by almost 16 points.
A number of factors led to the severe defeat. Majette was badly under financed and had to spend valuable time and money in the runoff. In contrast, Isakson had won the Republican nomination by an unexpectedly large margin. Due to her late entry in the race, she had little time or chance to make up ground on Isakson. A proposed constitutional amendment banning
same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is a term used to describe a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Other terms used to describe this type of recognition include gay marriage or gender-neutral marriage.Same-sex marriage is a civil rights,...
s (which Majette opposed) boosted Republican turnout significantly; it carried in every county, even DeKalb. In addition,
John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
had effectively ceded Georgia to
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
early in the presidential campaign. Finally, her lack of experience resonated with voters. Despite the loss, Majette became both the first
African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
and the first woman to be nominated for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
McKinney regained her seat in the 2004 election. While McKinney had made no secret that she wanted her old seat back, it is not known whether Majette's decision to run for the Senate was related to a possible rematch against McKinney. However, following her scuffle with a U.S. Capitol Police officer in March 2006, McKinney lost her seat yet again in August 2006.
Soon after leaving the House, Majette entered private law practice in Atlanta.
In March 2006, Majette announced her candidacy for state School Superintendent of Georgia. She defeated substitute teacher Carlotta Harrell in the primary, garnering 67% of the vote. In the general election, however, Majette lost to Republican incumbent
Kathy CoxKathy Cox is the superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a Republican. A high school teacher by occupation, Cox also served two terms, from 1998 to 2002, in the Georgia General Assembly, representing Peachtree City, Georgia, prior to her election as superintendent...
by a large margin.
In Congress, Majette's voting record was slightly more moderate than that of McKinney. Nonetheless, she is considered fairly liberal by national Democratic standards. Among other issues, she supports
affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
,
abortion rightsPro-choice describes the political and ethical view that a woman should have complete control over her fertility and the choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy. This entails the guarantee of reproductive rights, which includes access to sexual education; access to safe and legal abortion,...
and legal status for illegal immigrants working in the U.S., while she opposes school vouchers and the death penalty.
Electoral history
Denise L. Majette (born May 18, 1955) is a DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician from the stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
.
Born in BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, she attended Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
and completed a Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree at Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1979. A resident of the Atlanta suburb of Stone MountainStone Mountain is a suburb of Atlanta in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 7,145 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
since 1983, Majette was appointed by Governor Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
to the State Court of DeKalb CountyDeKalb County is located in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2000, the population of the county was 686,712. In 2008, its population was estimated to have risen to 739,956. Its county seat is the city of Decatur...
in 1993.
She resigned from the judgeship in 2002 to run for the U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in {{ushr|Georgia|4|}}, which is based in DeKalb County. In a major upset, she defeated 10-year incumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Cynthia McKinneyCynthia Ann McKinney is a U.S. politician and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
in the Democratic primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
. McKinney had attracted controversy due to her comments after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and her reported backing by Arab-American groups. The primary was also influenced by crossover-Republicans, i.e. Republicans who used their right to vote in a Democratic caucus in Georgia. It was stunning enough that Majette, who had never run in a partisan contest before, was able to defeat the seemingly entrenched McKinney. Majette's campaign had double the money of McKinney's, manily the result of intense Jewish and out of county support. Majette trounced McKinney by a 58% to 42% margin. Majette's upset win was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district. Two years later she would lose her seat back to McKinney.
Majette would have likely been able to keep her congressional seat for as long as she wanted, given the 4th's heavy Democratic tilt (only the neighboring Atlanta-based 5th is considered more Democratic). However, after only one term, she decided to run for the U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
seat being vacated by Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, who had been appointed to the seat in 2000 to replace the late Republican Paul CoverdellPaul Douglas Coverdell was 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 1991...
. Miller's decision not to seek a full term in the Senate had caught the Georgia Democrats by surprise. Majette's announcement that she would seek to replace Miller also caught Democrats by surprise, as she was not on anyone's call list when Democrats began seeking a candidate to replace Miller. Further skepticism among Democrats about the viability of her candidacy surfaced when she announced that "God" had told her to run for the Senate.
Majette finished first in the Democratic primary but was forced into a runoff against millionaire businessman Cliff Oxford, which she won. She received important endorsements from Senator Mary LandrieuMary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana, and is the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate for Louisiana...
of Louisiana and Senator Debbie StabenowDeborah Ann "Debbie" Stabenow , née Greer, is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan.In the 2000 election, Stabenow defeated the Republican incumbent, Senator Spencer Abraham. She is the first female U.S. Senator from Michigan...
of Michigan, along with many others in Washington who campaigned and raised money for Majette. Her Senate campaign slogan was "I'll be nobody's Senator, but yours."
In the general election, despite her vigorous attacks against her RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
opponent, 6th District Congressman Johnny IsaksonJohn Hardy "Johnny" Isakson , is an American politician, who has been the Republican junior United States Senator from Georgia since 2005. Previously, he represented in the House from 1999 to 2005.-Background:...
, Majette was soundly defeated, losing by almost 16 points.
A number of factors led to the severe defeat. Majette was badly under financed and had to spend valuable time and money in the runoff. In contrast, Isakson had won the Republican nomination by an unexpectedly large margin. Due to her late entry in the race, she had little time or chance to make up ground on Isakson. A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is a term used to describe a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Other terms used to describe this type of recognition include gay marriage or gender-neutral marriage.Same-sex marriage is a civil rights,...
s (which Majette opposed) boosted Republican turnout significantly; it carried in every county, even DeKalb. In addition, John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
had effectively ceded Georgia to George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
early in the presidential campaign. Finally, her lack of experience resonated with voters. Despite the loss, Majette became both the first African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
and the first woman to be nominated for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
McKinney regained her seat in the 2004 election. While McKinney had made no secret that she wanted her old seat back, it is not known whether Majette's decision to run for the Senate was related to a possible rematch against McKinney. However, following her scuffle with a U.S. Capitol Police officer in March 2006, McKinney lost her seat yet again in August 2006.
Soon after leaving the House, Majette entered private law practice in Atlanta.
In March 2006, Majette announced her candidacy for state School Superintendent of Georgia. She defeated substitute teacher Carlotta Harrell in the primary, garnering 67% of the vote. In the general election, however, Majette lost to Republican incumbent Kathy CoxKathy Cox is the superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a Republican. A high school teacher by occupation, Cox also served two terms, from 1998 to 2002, in the Georgia General Assembly, representing Peachtree City, Georgia, prior to her election as superintendent...
by a large margin.
In Congress, Majette's voting record was slightly more moderate than that of McKinney. Nonetheless, she is considered fairly liberal by national Democratic standards. Among other issues, she supports affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
, abortion rightsPro-choice describes the political and ethical view that a woman should have complete control over her fertility and the choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy. This entails the guarantee of reproductive rights, which includes access to sexual education; access to safe and legal abortion,...
and legal status for illegal immigrants working in the U.S., while she opposes school vouchers and the death penalty.
Electoral history
Denise L. Majette (born May 18, 1955) is a DemocraticThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
politician from the stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
.
Born in BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, she attended Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
and completed a Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
degree at Duke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892...
in 1979. A resident of the Atlanta suburb of Stone MountainStone Mountain is a suburb of Atlanta in eastern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 7,145 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
since 1983, Majette was appointed by Governor Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
to the State Court of DeKalb CountyDeKalb County is located in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2000, the population of the county was 686,712. In 2008, its population was estimated to have risen to 739,956. Its county seat is the city of Decatur...
in 1993.
She resigned from the judgeship in 2002 to run for the U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
in {{ushr|Georgia|4|}}, which is based in DeKalb County. In a major upset, she defeated 10-year incumbentThe incumbent, in politics, is the holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Cynthia McKinneyCynthia Ann McKinney is a U.S. politician and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
in the Democratic primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
. McKinney had attracted controversy due to her comments after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and her reported backing by Arab-American groups. The primary was also influenced by crossover-Republicans, i.e. Republicans who used their right to vote in a Democratic caucus in Georgia. It was stunning enough that Majette, who had never run in a partisan contest before, was able to defeat the seemingly entrenched McKinney. Majette's campaign had double the money of McKinney's, manily the result of intense Jewish and out of county support. Majette trounced McKinney by a 58% to 42% margin. Majette's upset win was tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic district. Two years later she would lose her seat back to McKinney.
Majette would have likely been able to keep her congressional seat for as long as she wanted, given the 4th's heavy Democratic tilt (only the neighboring Atlanta-based 5th is considered more Democratic). However, after only one term, she decided to run for the U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
seat being vacated by Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, who had been appointed to the seat in 2000 to replace the late Republican Paul CoverdellPaul Douglas Coverdell was 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 1991...
. Miller's decision not to seek a full term in the Senate had caught the Georgia Democrats by surprise. Majette's announcement that she would seek to replace Miller also caught Democrats by surprise, as she was not on anyone's call list when Democrats began seeking a candidate to replace Miller. Further skepticism among Democrats about the viability of her candidacy surfaced when she announced that "God" had told her to run for the Senate.
Majette finished first in the Democratic primary but was forced into a runoff against millionaire businessman Cliff Oxford, which she won. She received important endorsements from Senator Mary LandrieuMary Loretta Landrieu is the senior United States Senator from the State of Louisiana, and is the second woman elected to the U.S. Senate for Louisiana...
of Louisiana and Senator Debbie StabenowDeborah Ann "Debbie" Stabenow , née Greer, is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan.In the 2000 election, Stabenow defeated the Republican incumbent, Senator Spencer Abraham. She is the first female U.S. Senator from Michigan...
of Michigan, along with many others in Washington who campaigned and raised money for Majette. Her Senate campaign slogan was "I'll be nobody's Senator, but yours."
In the general election, despite her vigorous attacks against her RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
opponent, 6th District Congressman Johnny IsaksonJohn Hardy "Johnny" Isakson , is an American politician, who has been the Republican junior United States Senator from Georgia since 2005. Previously, he represented in the House from 1999 to 2005.-Background:...
, Majette was soundly defeated, losing by almost 16 points.
A number of factors led to the severe defeat. Majette was badly under financed and had to spend valuable time and money in the runoff. In contrast, Isakson had won the Republican nomination by an unexpectedly large margin. Due to her late entry in the race, she had little time or chance to make up ground on Isakson. A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is a term used to describe a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Other terms used to describe this type of recognition include gay marriage or gender-neutral marriage.Same-sex marriage is a civil rights,...
s (which Majette opposed) boosted Republican turnout significantly; it carried in every county, even DeKalb. In addition, John KerryJohn Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee....
had effectively ceded Georgia to George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
early in the presidential campaign. Finally, her lack of experience resonated with voters. Despite the loss, Majette became both the first African AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. In the United States, the terms are generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry...
and the first woman to be nominated for the U.S. Senate in Georgia.
McKinney regained her seat in the 2004 election. While McKinney had made no secret that she wanted her old seat back, it is not known whether Majette's decision to run for the Senate was related to a possible rematch against McKinney. However, following her scuffle with a U.S. Capitol Police officer in March 2006, McKinney lost her seat yet again in August 2006.
Soon after leaving the House, Majette entered private law practice in Atlanta.
In March 2006, Majette announced her candidacy for state School Superintendent of Georgia. She defeated substitute teacher Carlotta Harrell in the primary, garnering 67% of the vote. In the general election, however, Majette lost to Republican incumbent Kathy CoxKathy Cox is the superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia, and is a Republican. A high school teacher by occupation, Cox also served two terms, from 1998 to 2002, in the Georgia General Assembly, representing Peachtree City, Georgia, prior to her election as superintendent...
by a large margin.
In Congress, Majette's voting record was slightly more moderate than that of McKinney. Nonetheless, she is considered fairly liberal by national Democratic standards. Among other issues, she supports affirmative actionThe term affirmative action refers to policies that take race, ethnicity, or gender into consideration in an attempt to promote equal opportunity or increase ethnic or other forms of diversity. The focus of such policies ranges from employment and education to public contracting and health programs...
, abortion rightsPro-choice describes the political and ethical view that a woman should have complete control over her fertility and the choice to continue or terminate a pregnancy. This entails the guarantee of reproductive rights, which includes access to sexual education; access to safe and legal abortion,...
and legal status for illegal immigrants working in the U.S., while she opposes school vouchers and the death penalty.
Electoral history
{{ushr|Georgia|4|}
}: 2002 results
!|Year
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|2002
|
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|Denise L. Majette}}
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |118,045
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |77%
|
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|Cynthia Van Auken}}
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |35,202
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |23%
|
{{end box}}
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em ; font-size:95%"
|+ Georgia Senator (Class III): 2004 results
!|Year
!
!|Democrat
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|Republican
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
!|3rd Party
!|Party
!|Votes
!|Pct
!
|-
|2004
|
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |{{nowrap|Denise L. Majette}}
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} align="right" |1,287,690
|{{Party shading/Democratic}} |40%
|
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |{{nowrap|Johnny IsaksonJohn Hardy "Johnny" Isakson , is an American politician, who has been the Republican junior United States Senator from Georgia since 2005. Previously, he represented in the House from 1999 to 2005.-Background:...
}}
|{{Party shading/Republican}} align="right" |1,864,202
|{{Party shading/Republican}} |58%
|
|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} |Allen Buckley
|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} |LibertarianThe Libertarian Party is a United States political party founded on December 11, 1971.In the 30 states where voters can register by party there are over 200,000 voters registered with the Libertarian Party, making it one of the largest of America's alternative political parties...
|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |69,051
|{{Party shading/Libertarian}} align="right" |2%
| |*
{{end box}}
External links
{{start box}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{USRepSuccessionBox
| before=Cynthia McKinneyCynthia Ann McKinney is a U.S. politician and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
| state=Georgia
| district=4
| years=January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2005
| after=Cynthia McKinneyCynthia Ann McKinney is a U.S. politician and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States...
}}
{{end box}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majette, Denise}}