Supported by Pro-Israeli Money, U.S. Representative Wins in Primary

ATLANTA, Georgia, August 21 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In new evidence to the extremely powerful Jewish lobby in the U.S., a challenger supported by pro-Israel funds grabbed Wednesday, August 21, a U.S. congressional seat held by a five-term representative backed by Arab Americans in a bitterly contested Democratic primary duel.

With 99% of the votes tallied after Tuesday's voting in Georgia's fourth congressional district, a district centered in DeKalb County, just to the east of Atlanta, the little known former state judge Denise Majette had 58% of the votes, with 42% going to the outspoken Cynthia McKinney.

The fourth congressional district is about 50% black and heavily Democratic, though it has pockets of Jewish and Republican voters.

The electoral battle between the two African American women at times seemed like a referendum on the Middle East, as Jewish groups, furious by McKinney's support of Arab causes, contributed heavily to Majette's campaign fund, while pro-Arab donors pumped funds into the incumbent's coffers.

Majette also got votes from Republicans who crossed over to the Democratic camp to ensure McKinney was defeated. McKinney had caused controversy when she said U.S. President George W. Bush had advance knowledge of the September 11 terrorist attacks and suggested his friends in the defense industry could profit from a war.

And McKinney stirred controversy right into voting day. The office of the Georgia Secretary of State announced Tuesday, August 20, it was investigating complaints from Republicans who said they received recorded phone messages warning them - wrongly - that it is against the law to cross party lines and vote in the Democratic primary.

Georgia has “open” primaries, allowing Republican voters to cross over into the Democratic primary, and vice versa, where Democratic voters can vote in Republican primaries.

According to local news reports, large percentages of voters in normally Republican precincts voted Democratic ballots Tuesday.

"Tonight we saw massive Republican crossover into the Democratic primary, and it looks like the Republicans wanted to beat me more than the Democrats wanted to keep me," McKinney said in her concession speech, reports CNN.

McKinney is no stranger to controversy and came under fire during her campaign, when the Congressional Quarterly said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was investigating some donors to her campaign allegedly for links to terrorist organizations.

McKinney's reports to the Federal Election Commission showed heavy contributions from Arab American sources outside Atlanta and the state of Georgia, into her $623,000 campaign funds.

At the same time, the Congressional Quarterly said that 200 donors from around the U.S., mainly pro-Israel groups, gave to the Majette campaign, after earlier contributing to the Alabama campaign of Artur Davis, who defeated incumbent Representative Earl F. Hilliard for a seat in Congress in a June runoff. Hilliard also championed Arab causes and once visited Libya.

McKinney is the second black lawmaker, after Hilliard, targeted by Jewish groups to lose a re-election bid in the post-September 11 era.

Total out-of-state funds given to Majette’s campaign from members of the Jewish community came to nearly $1.2 million.

McKinney also faced criticism for using the names of political celebrities in her campaign without their consent.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young, also the former mayor of Atlanta, said it was "a fudge" for the incumbent's campaign to use an old endorsement by him for McKinney. Voters received phone messages Monday and Tuesday with a tape-recorded message by Young urging them to vote for McKinney.

There was also an old tape of actor Robert Redford and former president Bill Clinton touting McKinney. A spokesperson for Redford called the recycled endorsement "inappropriate." A Clinton spokesperson said the former president had not made an endorsement of McKinney.

With the victory, Majette is almost assured election in the heavily Democratic district in November.

"I want to congratulate Denise Majette," McKinney said in her concession speech. "I wish her well," adding "I won't help the Republicans," she said in a nod to party unity.

Stating her beliefs, McKinney said, "In Congress, doing what is right is not always easy…Sometimes you have to stand up to seemingly unbeatable odds - speak truth to the most powerful interests - to do what is right."