Biography:

Lynn Westmoreland is a good ol' boy and proud of it. A builder from Atlanta's southern suburbs, Westmoreland didn't finish college (although he did take classes at Georgia State University) and calls himself a real-world lawmaker, not an ivory tower type.

He started a home building business in the 1970s and made a small fortune. He first ran for office in 1988, a failed bid for state Senate.

He was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1992. There he rose to Republican Leader in 2000 before stepping down from the leadership post in 2003 to run for Congress.

His wife, Joan, is a homemaker, and they have three grown children.

Past Campaigns:

Lynn Westmoreland defeated two opponents to win the Republican nomination in the 8th District. State Sen. Mike Crotts ran a weak campaign, and he had the extra disadvantage of being from the extreme end of a winding district, so most of the turf was new to him.

Westmoreland got the most votes in the July 20 primary, but not enough to avoid a runoff against Dylan Glenn, a black candidate who once worked for both Presidents Bush.The Glenn-Westmoreland runoff was ugly at the end, with Westmoreland calling him "the political opportunist you can't trust." But the strategy apparently worked, and Westmoreland won the runoff.

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