Primary Election Roundup

Moderate Rep. Johnny Isakson (R.) won Georgia's U.S. Senate primary yesterday with 53% of the vote over his two conservative rivals, Rep. Mac Collins and businessman Herman Cain. Because the Republican nominee is all but certain to replace retiring conservative Sen. Zell Miller (D.), many conservatives fear that this will represent an ideological downgrade in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, in North Carolina's fifth congressional district, conservative Vernon Robinson (R.) surprised everyone by coming out on top of a six-way race. The final winner will have an easy time winning the general election to replace Rep. Richard Burr (R.), who is quitting his Winston-Salem-based seat to run for Senate. The expected winner, Ed Broyhill, finished a disappointing third place. Robinson, who took 24% of the vote, will now face the close second-place finisher, State Sen. Virginia Foxx (R.), in an August 17 runoff. Foxx and Robinson are both conservative, agreeing on basically all of their positions, but she is definitely less outspoken. Robinson's radio ads-perhaps some of the most humorous ever recorded-are very politically incorrect and lambaste his opponents for being too liberal. If he wins, expect Robinson to be a black Bob Dornan. If Foxx wins, she'll be a quiet conservative vote.