Johnny Isakson

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John Hardy "Johnny" Isakson (born December 28 1944), is an American politician, who has been the Republican junior United States Senator from Georgia since 2005. Previously, he represented Georgia's 6th Congressional district in the House from 1999 to 2005.

[edit] Background

A second-generation Swedish-American^[1], Isakson was born in Atlanta and currently lives in the nearby suburb of Marietta. He served as a staff sgt. in the Georgia Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972.^[2] 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. He is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

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

[edit] Political life

Isakson first entered Republican politics in 1974, losing a race for the Georgia House of Representatives in an eastern Cobb County district. He ran again in 1976 and won. He served seven terms in the House, the last two as minority leader. He was the Republican candidate for governor of Georgia in 1990, losing to Democratic lieutenant governor Zell Miller. Two years later, he was elected to the Georgia Senate and served two terms.

In 1996 he ran in the Republican primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Sam Nunn. However, when he announced his candidacy, he declared that he was the pro-choice Republican candidate. Isakson won the primary election but did not win a majority. Therefore, per Georgia law he was forced into a primary runoff in which he lost to Guy Milner.

In January 1999, 6th District Congressman and House Speaker Newt Gingrich faced a revolt in his caucus after the Republicans lost five seats in the midterm elections two months earlier. Amid the ruckus, Gingrich decided not only to resign as Speaker, but also not to take his seat for an 11th term. Isakson ran for the seat in a special election in February and won by finishing 40 points ahead of the runner-up. He won a full term in 2000 and was reelected in 2002. The 6th is the most Republican district in Georgia, and Isakson never faced a truly serious or well-financed challenge in either election.

In early 2003, conservative Democratic Senator Zell Miller — who had been appointed to fill out the term of the late Republican Senator Paul Coverdell — 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 George W. Bush. However, many social conservatives had never forgiven Isakson for his pro-choice stance in 1996. They split their support between 8th District Congressman Mac Collins and businessman Herman Cain.

However, Isakson easily won the nomination in the first round with 53 percent of the vote, with Cain a distant second and Collins in third. In the general election, he defeated the Democratic candidate, 4th District Congresswoman Denise Majette, by 16 points. Isakson's election marked the first time in Georgia's history that both 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).

In the U.S Senate, Isakson has a 52% approval rating, with 36% disapproval rating.[1]

[edit] Political positions

Since his election to the House, Isakson has moved considerably to the right on social issues. He is now anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage and pro-gun rights. On the Issues, a nonpartisan Web site that rates candidates, labels Isakson "a Libertarian-leaning conservative."^[3] When he ran for the 6th 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^[4]. He is credited for developing the "Isakson Principle", which denies the legalization of status to any illegals 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. ^[5] Contrary to his critics assertions, Isakson only played a role 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 Sen. Chambliss also called on President Bush to send an emergency supplemental border security spending bill to the Congress. He has an 'A' grade from immigration-reduction advocacy group Americans for Better Immigration^[6].

He is ranked the 7th most conservative Senator by National Journal [2].

[edit] Electoral history

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• United States Senator Johnny Isakson official Senate site

• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Johnny Isakson profile
• Election history

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