Rep. John Barrow (D) Elected 2004, 1st term
Born:	Oct. 31, 1955, Athens
Home:	Athens
Education:	U. of GA, B.A. 1976, Harvard Law Schl., J.D. 1979
Religion:	Baptist
Marital Status:	married (Victoria)
Elected  Office:	Athens-Clarke City-Co. comm., 1990-2004.
Professional Career:	Practicing atty, 1981-2004.
DC Office	226 CHOB20515, 202-225-2823; Fax: 202-225-3377; Web site: www.house.gov/barrow
State Offices	Athens, 706-613-3232; Augusta, 706-722-4494; Savannah, 912-354-7282.
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In Georgia, the focus is usually on Atlanta. But Georgia also has some gracious smaller cities, with roots deep in the past. One is Savannah, the state's first capital, which by the 1830s was one of America's booming cotton ports; it languished after the Civil War, living off paper mills and chemical plants in the 20th century, while impoverished blacks on the islands a few miles away still spoke Gullah dialects. Then, a few decades ago, preservationists started restoring houses and churches on the grid punctuated by 24 squares that James Oglethorpe had laid out more than 200 years before. Today Savannah is one of the most graciously preserved cities in the country, and a major tourism mecca thanks to the popularity of John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, a somewhat-based-on-facts story of eccentricity and murder on the bestseller lists for four years in the 1990s. The city actively competes with neighboring--and equally well-preserved--Charleston, South Carolina, not only for tourists but for shipping. Another such city is Augusta, upriver on the Savannah River, founded in 1735 as a fur-trading post, home of the Medical College of Georgia since 1835 and boyhood home of President Woodrow Wilson, with its own Cotton Exchange and Riverwalk. A third such city is Athens, on the smaller Oconee River, site of the gracious campus of the University of Georgia since 1801 and home to the rock bands R.E.M. and the B-52s, graceful Greek Revival mansions, boxwood gardens and magnolias.

The 12th Congressional District of Georgia, newly created by the Democratic redistricting of 2001, combines almost all of Savannah (but only some of its suburbs), four-fifths of Augusta (but not much of its suburbs) and all of Athens into a long slim district that extends some 230 miles. The 12th is sometimes referred to as Georgia's "higher education district"--because nearly a dozen universities and colleges are concentrated within its boundaries. It is two or three counties deep along the Savannah River from Savannah to Augusta, then runs northwest in a narrowing finger from Augusta to Athens. There is, of course, a political explanation for the shape of the district. The district carefully excludes the heavily Republican suburbs of Savannah's Chatham County (in the 1st District), the heavily Republican suburbs of Augusta in Columbia County and heavily Republican Oconee County outside Athens (in the 9th District). It also carefully excludes most of Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah and Fort Gordon near Augusta. It contains the Depression-wracked farm country near Augusta that Erskine Caldwell chronicled in his scandalous bestseller, Tobacco Road; the titular dirt thoroughfare, which led to a small port on the Savannah River, is now paved and passes a nondescript mix of residential and commercial areas. White areas were excluded and black areas included so that the population of the district was 42% black. It was designed to be safely Democratic; it voted for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

The congressman from the 12th District is a Democrat, John Barrow, who was one of only two successful challengers to House Republican incumbents in 2004. Barrow claims seven generations of Georgians in his family; his father handled school desegregation cases as a Superior Court judge in the Athens area. A graduate of the University of Georgia and Harvard Law School, Barrow became a trial lawyer who made his name in local politics by winning four terms as an Athens-Clarke city-county commissioner. In 2004 he decided to run against Republican Max Burns, who had won an upset victory in the district in 2002. Burns won by waging a vigorous campaign but he also had help from the Democrats. The district had been designed by state Senate Majority Leader Charles Walker to elect his son, Charles "Champ" Walker Jr., from Augusta. As the campaign progressed, young Walker's credibility eroded after local newspapers reported a past littered with failed business ventures and run-ins with the law. Burns said that the district needed "honest and ethical representation." On Election Day, Burns beat Champ Walker 55%-45% and Charles Walker Sr. lost his legislative seat. Burns was an obvious Democratic target in 2004, and House Republican leaders gave him all the help they could.

Barrow had to work hard to win. Although most Democratic voters here are black, all four candidates in the Democratic primary were white. Barrow raised more than $700,000 and, with the endorsements of former Senator Max Cleland, the Sierra Club and the Georgia AFL-CIO, was able to extend his appeal beyond his home base. He won 51% of the vote and all 14 counties, enough to avoid a runoff. In the general election, Barrow focused on Burns's support of a national retail sales tax to replace the income tax; he attacked the proposal as a tax increase that "just doesn't add up for Georgia families," and labeled it "the Max Tax." Burns replied that Barrow distorted the proposal; he called Barrow a "liberal trial attorney" controlled by "Atlanta party bosses," who "would let France determine our national defense policy." Barrow criticized Burns for supporting the Medicare prescription drug bill and ran an ad that claimed Burns had cut funding for Georgia's rural hospitals. Barrow also mocked Burns for inaccurately claiming he helped create the Homeland Security Department. He distanced himself from John Kerry and the national Democratic party. Burns sought to turn the focus to same-sex marriage, an issue on which Barrow struggled to find a consistent position; this debate occurred against the backdrop of a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. The amendment was approved by 76%-24% on the November ballot; it passed by only 52%-48% in Clarke County, the closest margin in any of the state's 159 counties.

But this was not enough to save Burns: Barrow won 52%-48%. Burns ran well in rural areas, winning eight of the 14 counties, but Barrow won big margins among the heavily black electorates in the three counties which cast two-thirds of the district's votes--62% in Richmond, 58% in Chatham, and 58% in Clarke. Another local Democratic victory: Charles Walker Sr., while under federal indictment, regained his Senate seat. But Barrow's political life was made more difficult by the March 2005 redistricting, which moved his Clarke County base into the heavily Republican 10th District. Barrow said that he would run in the new district that included the largest part of his former district, which would place him in the new 12th. He could face challenges from two former House members. Democrat Denise Majette, who served one term in an Atlanta-area seat before her unsuccessful Senate bid in 2004, raised the possibility of a primary challenge. And Burns announced in May 2005 that he would run for the seat, even though it is more Democratic than the district that he represented for two years.

Committees

• Agriculture (16th of 21 D): General Farm Commodities & Risk Management; Livestock & Horticulture; Specialty Crops & Foreign Agriculture Programs.
• Education & the Workforce (22d of 22 D): 21st Century Competitiveness; Workforce Protections.
• Small Business (13th of 15 D): Rural Enterprises, Agriculture & Technology (RMM); Workforce, Empowerment & Government Programs.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	John Barrow (D)	113,036	52%	$1,866,177
	Max Burns (R)	105,132	48%	$2,798,725
2004 primary	John Barrow (D)	28,110	51%
	Doug Haines (D)	15,808	29%
	Tony Center (D)	8,122	15%
	Caine Cortellino (D)	2,585	5%
2002 general	Max Burns (R)	77,479	55%	$925,706
	Charles Walker (D)	62,904	45%	$1,120,201

2004 Presidential Vote Kerry (D) 120,563 (54%) Bush (R) 103,295 (46%)

2000 Presidential Vote Gore (D) 95,845 (54%) Bush (R) 80,665 (45%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Twelfth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: D + 5
• District Size: 5,265 square miles
• Population in 2000: 629,735; 74.5% urban; 25.5% rural
• Median Household Income: $31,108; 21.7% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 28.0% blue collar; 53.6% white collar; 18.4% gray collar; 13.5% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 51.9% White, 42.3% Black, 1.4% Asian, 0.2% Amer. Indian, 0.1% Hawaiian, 1.1% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 2.9% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 8.8% USA, 5.8% Irish, 5.8% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.