Jockeying begins for Norwood's seat

Shannon McCaffrey of the AP writes:

"This is a very Republican district," said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia in Athens, which is in the congressional district. "Realistically, I don't see a Democrat having too much of a chance."

Without a primary, there's no limit on how many candidates from either major party can run, which means it could end up being a crowded field. If no candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the special election, a runoff election would follow four weeks later between the top two vote-getting candidates, regardless of party.

Norwood's district was redrawn by Georgia's Republican-led state Legislature in 2005 to include the Democratic stronghold of Athens. But, Bullock said, overall it remains strongly Republican.

Norwood won re-election in November with 67 percent of the vote against Terry Holley, a small business owner and Democratic party activist.

The district stretches from the northern reaches of Augusta along the South Carolina border to North Carolina over to near the outer edges of the Atlanta metropolitan area.