National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Ensign (Nev.) predicted that Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) will beat Democrat Jim Martin by 5 or 6 percentage points in Tuesday’s runoff.
“The Barack Obama magic on Election Day has not carried over to the runoff,” Ensign said during a conference call with reporters.
Chambliss fell just short of the majority needed to win the seat in the Nov. 4 general election. He got 49.8 percent of the vote while Martin received 46.8 percent. Republicans have attributed the relatively close race to Obama’s efforts to win the state in the presidential race.
Ensign said that Chambliss will benefit from a stronger get-out-the-vote operation in the runoff and from appearances on his behalf by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R).
“In a runoff election it’s about turning your voters out,” Ensign said. “She was able to get a lot of people excited to make sure they would focus on that race.”