Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA), who defeated Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary after her altercation with a Capitol Hill police officer, said he expects to face McKinney again next year.

"I assume that she will be running again because it's highly unlikely that a freshman such as myself would go unchallenged in their first re-election," Johnson told Roll Call. "I would assume I'll be challenged by her."

McKinney recently took herself out of the running for the Green Party presidential nomination, but has remained coy about her former Congressional seat: "I'll let you do the speculating."

Cynthia McKinney is at it again. The former Congresswoman, political gadfly and alleged cop-hitter is soliciting donations to her campaign committee to help retire campaign debt. (See her solicitation on our screen grab below.)

But there's only one problem: Her campaign actually ended the year with a $25,000 surplus! Or so the Associated Press reports, at any rate. The AP adds that a former campaign manager for McKinney was unable to account for the discrepancy between what the campaign thinks and what is reflected in FEC records.

So does this suggest the possibility of less-than-kosher activity on McKinney's part? The AP provides a partial answer: "Campaign finance experts say it's possible McKinney could have late-arriving bills that didn't show up before the report was filed. But because McKinney lost in a primary runoff in August, that would be an unusually long lag." We'll be checking into this further.

Representative-Elect Hank Johnson may have added a brand-new order of business to freshman orientation: assuring Capitol Hill Police that they won't get punched. Johnson — who defeated Cynthia McKinney in the Democratic primary — had just such an encounter with the same policeman whose altercation with McKinney ended her career, the Associated Press reports. Johnson told the AP that after apologizing on behalf of his constituents for any embarrassment the incident may have caused the officer, he also added, "I told him if he ever asked me to comply, that I would, that he wouldn't have to worry about that." Good to know.

Cynthia McKinney suffered a crushing defeat to Hank Johnson in a primary runoff a few weeks back, but oddly enough, her campaign Web site lives on, and posts have continued at a steady pace since her loss. An essay posted just this morning by a backer, for instance, blasts her opponents -- particularly those in the black community -- as "self-proclaimed `progressives,' who see no evil and hide from their own cowardice." That's some pretty tough talk. Looks like McKinney, who hasn't let losing deter her before -- after losing in 2002, she returned in 2004 to take back her seat -- might attempt yet another comeback from the dead. If you really want to read more of her supporters' rantings, go after the jump.

Read more »

Cynthia McKinney speaks! She blames news media and electronic voting machines for her loss in last week's primary run-off against Hank Johnson. She describes herself as a "black political paramedic" and says the "black body politic is near comatose."

And of course there was almost the obligatory flash of violence from her handlers:

She refused to answer reporters' questions after her speech. A woman in McKinney's entourage got between the representative and a reporter. A male bodyguard said McKinney would not take questions.

OK. We have hopefully one last Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) update. We told you yesterday about the McKinney bodyguard who allegedly pushed a cameraman Tuesday during McKinney’s primary runoff party. A police spokesperson told the AP this afternoon that with conflicting stories about what took place charges are unlikely against the bodyguard.

So who's to blame for Rep. Cynthia McKinney's crushing loss in Tuesday's Dem primary runoff to Hank Johnson?

Why, the Jews, of course.

That's what some McKinney supporters were caught on video saying at McKinney's primary night party. A clip of the video was broadcast Wednesday evening on Fox News. It shows some of McKinney’s entourage making anti-Semitic remarks to members of the media as McKinney walks through a parking lot.

(Clip originally recorded by conservative blogger MsUnderestimated).

Now the Anti-Defamation League has taken notice and alleged that McKinney’s entourage included members of the New Black Panther Party, a hate group known for its anti-Semitism, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. A transcript of the McKinney's supporters' remarks after the jump.

Read more »

We have a bit more information for you about the scuffle that took place last night at the party for Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s (D) primary run-off, in which she of course got trounced by Hank Johnson.

It turns out that the McKinney bodyguard who allegedly attacked a photojournalist yesterday was none other than the same goon who attacked a reporter in D.C. this April, after the reporter tried to ask McKinney about her own infamous scuffle with the Capitol Hill cop.

Get this: Despite last night’s crushing, double-digit defeat in the 4^th District primary run-off election, Georgia election officials are actually expecting Cynthia McKinney (D) to challenge the election.

Meanwhile, in other McKinney madness, a McKinney supporter has been charged with battering a photojournalist. You can watch a video of the incident here.

And finally, in case you haven't yet had your fill of McKinney, you might also want to know that someone answering the phone at the McKinney headquarters today has been saying all sorts of wacky things, including claiming that the vote was "predetermined" and a "lie," and that that the McKinney campaign received bomb threats.

This one's over, too: Hank Johnson declares victory over Cynthia McKinney as he leads her 59% to 41% with 89% of precincts reporting.

The latest numbers have it at Hank Johnson 58%, Cynthia McKinney 42% with 66 percent of precincts reporting.

Democratic incumbent challenger Ned Lamont in Connecticut is not the only Democrat embracing blogs. Hank Johnson, the challenger to Cynthia McKinney in today’s primary run-off election in Georgia's 4th district, has invited several of Georgia’s top political bloggers to cover his election party this evening, a Johnson spokesperson tells us, and they'll be granted a coveted press table of their own.

So who's coming? Tom Baxter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Political Insider blog, Andre Walker of Georgia Politics Unfiltered, Jeff Emanuel of Peach Pundit, and Will Hinton of Dignan will all be sitting at the party's press table this evening. Check out their sites this evening for the latest on the race.

Floundering Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) -- whose apparent lack of affection for police officers was on display in her recent alteration with a Capitol Hill cop -- is claiming on her website that police are harassing her volunteers.

That's not all. McKinney also insists voting machines are breaking down, but the Atlanta Journal Constitution says Georgia's Secretary of State's office claims the allegations appear to be unfounded. Either way, McKinney may “refuse to lose,” as her campaign hotline says, but soon enough we'll hear what today's primary voters have to say about it -- police intimidation notwithstanding.

We noted yesterday that based on the latest Insider Advantage poll, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) seems headed for a big-time meltdown in today’s primary run off election against challenger Hank Johnson (D).

Now there's still more evidence that McKinney's about to get tossed. Check out this intriguing detail from that poll that was only made available this morning: It turns out that of African Americans, who make up slightly more than half of the district’s voters, 50% back McKinney and 50% back Johnson -- a near-perfect split. With seven percent still undecided, and whites predicted to overwhelmingly back Johnson, this spells even more trouble for McKinney.

Meanwhile, early reports from the field trickling into Georgia blogs suggest relatively high turnout so far. Expect a winner by around 10 P.M.

New Insider Advantage poll: Hank Johnson, 53; Cynthia McKinney, 40. Only seven percent undecided. McKinney's meltdown is all but assured.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D), who's trailing badly in the polls and faces challenger Hank Johnson in tomorrow's Dem primary, is now saying that if reelected, she just might write her very own bill to impeach President Bush.

Severely behind in the polls against Hank Johnson in the Dem primary run-off, Cynthia McKinney has launched a desperate last minute cable TV advertising blitz ahead of next Tuesday’s election.

McKinney's bought 1,175 ad slots on various cable networks including CNN, BET, Lifetime and Oxygen that will air in targeted portions of her district. Johnson, who ran television ads last month, has so far not purchased time any for the remaining days of the primary run-off. You can listen to several McKinney radio ads here.

This morning we’ve been bringing you details on embattled Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney’s attempts to force the Atlanta Journal Constitution to retract a weekend opinion column blasting McKinney.

In the column, AJC's Cynthia Tucker wrote: "[McKinney] suggested that President Bush had known in advance about the Sept. 11 attacks but did nothing to stop them so his friends could profit from the ensuing war." McKinney claims this and other assertions in the column are false. But Election Central has unearthed several past McKinney statements which suggest that this assertion by Tucker may be, well, not so false after all, though Tucker could have included qualifiers.

Read more »

J.M. Raffauf, a lawyer for embattled Rep. Cynthia McKinney, is denying a report that she is suing the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for libel.

"We did not file a lawsuit," Raffauf told me in an interview. "Somebody said it on the internet. It's not true."

As noted below, Editor and Publisher reported that McKinney sued the paper for libel, alleging that Jule 30 editorial got its facts wrong about McKinney's recent tangle with a Capitol Hill cop and about her alleged suggestion that President Bush had known in advance about Sept. 11.

But this morning, AJC deputy editorial page editor Jay Bookman told me that no lawsuit had been filed, and added that they hadn't even received a request for a retraction yet, which is apparently required under Georgia law before a libel suit can be filled.

Read more »

Cynthia McKinney (D), who's getting hammered in the polls by primary rival Hank Johnson, is now suing The Atlanta-Journal Constitution for libel.

She says that a Jule 30 editorial got its facts wrong about McKinney's recent tangle with a Capitol Hill cop and about her alleged suggestion that President Bush had known in advance about Sept. 11.

New poll: Hank Johnson, 49%; Cynthia McKinney, 34%.

Rep. Cynthia McKinney's (D) spectacular meltdown continues. This morning all three sheriffs of Georgia’s 4^th Congressional District announced their endorsements of primary run-off opponent Hank Johnson(D)-- right before the big debate tonight.

The sherrifs' endorsements are a big coup for Johnson. Not only do they constitute important law-enforcement support, but they also reminds everyone that McKinney made news earlier this year with her embarrassing confrontation of a Capitol Hill police officer -- hardly something McKinney wants voters to be reminded of yet again.

A poll last week found Johnson leading her by a whopping 46 to 21% and he has picked up support from state representatives in the district along with the sheriffs. The debate will return McKinney to the national spotlight as C-SPAN covers it live at 7:30 p.m. We’ll be watching and bring you any news.

Earlier this year, prior to Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) making national news for an incident with a Capitol Hill police officer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mark Taylor displayed her endorsement of him on his website. Now, the Georgia GOP party claims, that endorsement has disappeared and Taylor’s campaign says that it is not taking a position in the primary run-off election between McKinney and DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson (D). This is just the latest bad news for McKinney, who has become politically radioactive. Yesterday, 300 to 400 people showed up at a rally for Johnson hosted by a few Democratic state Representatives.