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S. Baptists in Congress return to D.C.


WASHINGTON (BP)–No Southern Baptist members of Congress lost their seats in voting Nov. 4.

Both senators and all 23 representatives who are members of Southern Baptist churches and were on the general-election ballot gained victories.

Six Southern Baptists who are in the current Congress will not return to office, however.

Four members of the House of Representatives — Republicans Terry Everett of Alabama, Duncan Hunter of California, Ron Lewis of Kentucky and Chip Pickering of Mississippi — decided not to run for re-election. Hunter will leave after 14t terms in the House, Everett and Lewis both after eighth terms, and Pickering after six.

Two members of the same Southern Baptist church faced off to fill Everett’s seat. Democrat Bobby Bright edged Republican Jay Love by less than 1,800 votes out of more than 286,000 ballots cast. Bright and Love are members of First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Ala..

Another Southern Baptist — Republican Steve Pearce of New Mexico — ran for the Senate but lost after three terms in the House.

First-term House member David Davis of Tennessee lost in the GOP primary earlier this year.

In the Senate, Republican Roger Wicker of Mississippi defeated a fellow Southern Baptist, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, to win a special election for the seat formerly occupied by Sen. Trent Lott. Wicker is a member of First Baptist Church in Tupelo, Miss., while Musgrove is a member of First Baptist Church in Jackson. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour appointed Wicker to the seat last December after Lott retired.

Following is a list, as obtained by Baptist Press, of the ballot results for members of Southern Baptist churches who sought re-election to Congress. (The vote totals are from the website of CNN as of the morning of Nov. 6. The number of precincts reporting varied from 95 to 100 percent. Some races had more than two candidates on the ballot, but CNN only included the top two finishers.)

SENATE

Mississippi: Sen. Roger Wicker, Republican, First Baptist Church, Tupelo, defeated Ronnie Musgrove, Democrat, 646,394-522,419, 55-45 percent.

South Carolina: Lindsey Graham, R., seeking second term, Corinth BC, Seneca, defeated Bob Conley, D., 1,051,002-773,940, 58-42 percent.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Alabama: Rep. Spencer Bachus, R., Sixth District, seeking ninth term, Hunter Street BC, Hoover, was unopposed.

Arizona: Rep. Trent Franks, R., Second District, seeking fourth term, North Phoenix BC, Phoenix, defeated John Thrasher, D., 165,967-104,047, 60-37 percent.

Arkansas: Rep. John Boozman, R., Third District, seeking fifth term, First BC, Rogers, was unopposed, according to CNN.

Florida: Vern Buchanan, R., 13th District, seeking second term, First BC, Sarasota, defeated Christine Jennings, D., 201,440-136,233, 55-38 percent.

Georgia: Lynn Westmoreland, R., Third District, seeking third term, SouthCrest Church, Newman, defeated Stephen Camp, D., 224,856-117,380, 66-34 percent. Nathan Deal, R., Ninth District, seeking ninth term, First BC, Gainesville, defeated Jeff Scott, D., 216,824-70,353, 76-24 percent. Paul Broun, R. 10th District, seeking second term, Prince Avenue BC, Bogart, defeated Bobby Saxon, D., 177,109-114,463, 61-39 percent.

Kentucky: Rep. Harold Rogers, R., Fifth District, seeking 15th term, First BC, Somerset, was unopposed, according to CNN.

Louisiana: Rep. Rodney Alexander, R., Fifth District, seeking fourth term, Sweetwater BC, Quitman, was unopposed.

Maryland: Rep. Steny Hoyer, D., Fifth District, seeking 15th term, Broadview BC, Temple Hills, defeated Collins Bailey, R., 210,628-72,213, 73-25 percent.

Mississippi: Travis Childers, D., First District, seeking first full term, East Booneville BC, Booneville, defeated Greg Davis, R., 181,398-146,584, 54-44 percent.

Missouri: Rep. Sam Graves, R., Sixth District, seeking fifth term, First BC, Tarkio, defeated Kay Barnes, D., 196,309-121,729, 59-37 percent. Rep. Roy Blunt, R., Seventh District, seeking seventh term, First BC, Branson, defeated Richard Monroe, D., 218,662-90,761, 68-28 percent.

North Carolina: Heath Shuler, D., 11th District, seeking second term, Biltmore BC, Arden, defeated Carl Mumpower, R., 210,690-121,885, 62-36 percent.

Oklahoma: Rep. Frank Lucas, R., Third District, seeking ninth term, First BC, Cheyenne, defeated Frankie Robbins, D., 184,246-62,278, 70-23 percent.

South Carolina: Rep. Henry Brown, R., First District, seeking fifth term, Cooper River BC, North Charleston, defeated Linda Ketner, D., 175,768-162,341, 52-48 percent. Rep. Gresham Barrett, R., Third District, seeking fourth term, Westminster BC, Westminster, defeated Jane Dyer, D., 186,004-101,121, 65-35 percent.

Tennessee: Rep. Zach Wamp, R., Third District, seeking eighth term, Red Bank BC, Chattanooga, defeated Doug Vandagriff, D., 184,787-73,030, 69-28 percent. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D., Fourth District, seeking fourth term, Byrdstown First BC, Byrdstown, defeated Monty Lankford, R., 146,701-94,414, 59-38 percent.

Texas: Rep. Louie Gohmert, R., First District, seeking third term, Green Acres BC, Tyler, was unopposed, according to CNN. Rep. Al Green, D., Ninth District, seeking third term, Cullen Missionary BC, Houston, was unopposed, according to CNN. Rep. Mike Conaway, R., 11th District, seeking third term, First BC, Midland, was unopposed, according to CNN. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R., 19th District, seeking fourth term, First BC, Lubbock, defeated Dwight Fullingim, D., 168,126-57,852, 72-25 percent.

Virginia: Rep. Randy Forbes, R., Fourth District, seeking fifth term, Great Bridge BC, Chesapeake, defeated Andrea Miller, D., 191,486-126,925, 60-40 percent.
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Tom Strode is the Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.

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