South: Alabama

50-state roundup

Gov. Bob Riley (R), an entrepreneur and cattle rancher, was boosted in his campaign by a strong economy and low unemployment. He was easily reelected, defeating Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley. Baxley had said it would take a "miracle" for her to win, and she was right.

Arkansas

Former president and Arkansas governor Bill Clinton loomed over the state's gubernatorial race. He campaigned on behalf of Mike Beebe (D), the state attorney general, who was opposed by former congressman Asa Hutchinson, a manager of the 1998 impeachment case against Clinton. Beebe won with 55 percent of the vote and is set to succeed Mike Huckabee (R), who is considering a presidential run in 2008 and could not seek reelection because of term limits.

Florida

In Florida, Republicans suffered two long-expected yet still painful defeats. Sen. Bill Nelson (D) cruised to reelection against Rep. Katherine Harris, burying her 60 percent to 38 percent.

In the state's most closely watched House race, Democrats narrowly won the 16th District seat of Mark Foley (R), who resigned over his sexually explicit online messages to former House pages. Tim Mahoney (D), a financial services executive, narrowly defeated state Rep. Joe Negron, the GOP stand-in who carried the burden of having Foley's name appear on the ballot rather than his. He argued that "maintaining control of Congress is important"; the voters' disagreement helped swing the House to the Democrats.

Also, state Sen. Ron Klein (D) of Boca Raton narrowly defeated Rep. E. Clay Shaw Jr., a 25-year House member who had hoped to become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Republicans did hold on to the House seat Harris gave up for her Senate run, with Sarasota auto dealer Vern Buchanan staving off retired banker Christine Jennings, a former Republican and a longtime friend of his. Buchanan won by a mere 373 votes out of more than 238,000 cast.

As expected, state Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R) won a race to succeed his father, Michael Bilirakis (R), in the state's 9th District.

State Attorney General Charlie Crist, a former general counsel for the minor leagues in the office of the baseball commissioner, was elected governor, succeeding fellow Republican Jeb Bush. He beat Rep. Jim Davis, who was elected to Congress in 1996. Davis's House seat remained Democratic, being won overwhelmingly by Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor.

Georgia

The Peach State was home to two of the closest congressional races in the country. Contrary to the national trend, both the beleaguered incumbents were Democrats.

In the redrawn 8th District, Rep. Jim Marshall (D), faced a strong challenge from former congressman Mac Collins, a trucking entrepreneur who served six terms before giving up his seat to run unsuccessfully for the GOP's Senate nomination in 2004. Collins's campaign was backed heavily by national GOP resources, but Marshall won with fewer than 2,000 votes. The son and grandson of Army generals, Marshall left Princeton to enlist and serve in the Vietnam War. He sits on both the Armed Services and Agriculture committees.

Rep. John Barrow (D) confronted similar circumstances in the 12th District, where he faced former congressman Max Burns. A lawyer first elected in 2004, when he narrowly beat Burns, Barrow calls himself "a flaming moderate." Athens, where he lived, was removed from his district. He moved to Savannah, back into it. He squeaked by Burns, retaining his seat by a few thousand votes.

In the governor's race, Republican Sonny Perdue handily won a second term, trouncing Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor. Perdue, an agricultural businessman who branched into trucking, is Georgia's first Republican governor since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.