McKinney defeated in Georgia runoff

Congresswoman is handily bested by challenger in Democratic primary

	Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., right, speaks to supporters during an election night party in Decatur, Ga., after the polls closed in her run off with former Dekalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson for Georgia's Fourth Congressional Seat Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
John Bazemore / AP

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updated 7:08 a.m. ET Aug. 9, 2006

DECATUR, Ga. - Georgia voters denied Rep. Cynthia McKinney re-election on Tuesday.

With more than 90 percent of the precincts reporting in the Fourth Congressional District Democratic runoff, challenger Hank Johnson, the black former commissioner of DeKalb County, had 59 percent against McKinney. The votes were slow coming in because of computer problems in DeKalb County, but once a bad computer hub was replaced, the votes began streaming in.

McKinney, the fiery Georgia congresswoman who scuffled with a U.S. Capitol Police officer earlier this year, was her state’s first black congresswoman and was in a bid for a seventh term. In the heavily Democratic district, the runoff winner is likely to win in the fall.

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McKinney has long been controversial, once suggesting the Bush administration had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Her comments helped galvanize opposition and she lost her seat in 2002, but won it again two years ago.

In her latest brouhaha in March, she struck a Capitol Police officer who did not recognize her and tried to stop her from entering a House office building.

A grand jury in Washington declined to indict her, but she was forced to apologize before the House. She drew less than 50 percent of the vote in last month’s primary.