Saxby Chambliss

The diners at Butch's Family Restaurant gave Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss the warmest of welcomes when he stopped in recently. They smiled as he moved from table to table, shaking hands and asking after each of them with avuncular concern. A local pastor prayed for Chambliss, calling him a man who "stands for principles we believe in." "Aw, I'm getting a hug," said one middle-aged voter as she lunged toward the silver-haired lawmaker.

Jim Martin was feeling the spirit. At historically black Morris Brown College, surrounded by former Barack Obama campaign staffers and African American Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the normally unassuming, bespectacled white lawyer had discovered his inner preacher. "We're all in this together!" Martin, 63, intoned. "Talk to me!" a man shouted in response. "The Republicans believe if they have 41 votes in the Senate, they can stop this great president!" "That's right!"

Democrats' dream of a filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate ended Tuesday when Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss held on to his seat in a closely watched runoff election. With 96% of the precincts reporting, Chambliss was leading Democratic challenger Jim Martin, 57.5% to 42.5%. A runoff became necessary when neither candidate won 50% of the vote in last month's election.

Saxby Chambliss: An article in Saturday's Section A about Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss' Georgia reelection race misidentified lawyer Walter Gordon of Hartwell, Ga. -- a supporter of Chambliss' opponent -- as David Gordon.