U.S. Senate Dem candidate Martin endorsed

Vernon Jones and Jim Martin are in campaign mode as the two are looking ahead to their Democratic U.S. Senate runoff ahead on August 5th. Thursday, it was Martin who received the endorsement of two other candidates eliminated from the primary race on Tuesday. Dale Cardwell and Rand Knight threw their support behind the former state lawmaker Martin. Another former candidate, Josh Lanier, says he will remain neutral in his support. Jones was the top vote-getter with 40 percent-—Martin earned 34 percent. The runoff winner faces Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss in November.

Georgia breaks voting record

Georgia voters broke a record during yesterday's presidential primary. Secretary of State Karen Handel reports that 44% of active registered voters cast a ballot. That surpasses what is believed to be the previous high of 40 percent in 1988. With 94% of precincts reporting, just under 2-million votes had been tallied. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won the Republican race in Georgia, while Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, received the nod from Democrats.

Georgia primary includes some local measure voting

Georgia's presidential primary voting on Tuesday included voters in some counties casting ballots for local measures. A sampling:

- A referendum to allow liquor-by-the-drink sales in Lumpkin County passed Tuesday.
- In Jackson County, efforts to allow Sunday alcohol sales were rebuffed.
- Newton County voters granted senior citizens exemption from school property taxes.
- Voters in Colquitt, Madison, Jones, and Polk counties all approved local sales tax measures for schools and other projects.

In other measures passed:

- Clayton County voted for a sales tax increase to help pay for new county facilities.
- Gwinnett County approved a bond referendum to build more schools.
- Voters in Atlanta said yes to extending an existing sales tax to fund repairs to the city's sewer system.
- Forsyth County approved a sales tax for road improvements and property tax increase for more county parks.

Georgia primary turnout could top 30 percent

Georgia is among the two dozen states holding presidential primary voting in tomorrow’s Super Tuesday across the nation. Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel says she’s been told by county officials that they expect between 30-35 percent of the state’s registered voters to participate. If that holds true, the number would be roughly double the 17-percent of voters who turned out in 2004. Not since 1992 has Georgia seen voter turnout for a primary above 30-percent. That’s when Bill Clinton was the Democratic side winner--the elder George Bush the Republican.

Mike Huckabee in Macon

Flanked by actor Chuck Norris, presidential hopeful and Former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee spent Sunday afternoon in Macon for a rally that was decidedly Southern in nature.

The crowd of just over a thousand held signs reading, "I Like Mike" and "Us Against Them." They were there to show their support for Mike Huckabee who is running well in Georgia.

The candidate asked for people to vote for him on Super Tuesday saying that as a fellow Southerner he understands them.

"I know how to cook grits. I know how to fry catfish. I don't eat fried chicken with the skin off, with a knife and fork. A few things like that. But, I think most of us who grew up in the Deep South are only a generation away from poverty. We understand how hard we've had to work in the South to pull ourselves up by our own boot straps."

A Rasmussen survey, released on Sunday, shows John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Mike Huckabee within three points of each other in Georgia.

Dem presidential candidate Clinton in Georgia

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be in Georgia today.

Clinton will be in Atlanta to speak at the National Baptist Convention. Following that event, she will attend the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner.

It is unclear if Democratic Senator John Edwards, who dropped out of the Presidential race today, will also appear at the dinner.

Clinton is making the appearances in Georgia, ahead of next week's Super Tuesday primary for Georgia and several other states across the country.