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Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.)

1. Why He Matters
2. At a Glance
3. Path to Power
1. 3.1. Start of a Political Career
2. 3.2. Early Setbacks
3. 3.3. House Career
4. 3.4. Senate Career
5. 3.5. 2010 Campaign
6. 3.6. In His Own Words
4. The Issues
1. 4.1. Economic Crisis
2. 4.2. Iraq War
3. 4.3. Stem Cells
4. 4.4. Helping Georgia Businesses
5. 4.5. Health Care Reform
5. The Network

Current Position: U.S. Senator (since January 2005)

Credit: Linda Davidson/TWP

Table of Contents

1. Why He Matters
2. At a Glance
3. Path to Power
1. 3.1. Start of a Political Career
2. 3.2. Early Setbacks
3. 3.3. House Career
4. 3.4. Senate Career
5. 3.5. 2010 Campaign
6. 3.6. In His Own Words
4. The Issues
1. 4.1. Economic Crisis
2. 4.2. Iraq War
3. 4.3. Stem Cells
4. 4.4. Helping Georgia Businesses
5. 4.5. Health Care Reform
5. The Network

Why He Matters

Isakson, Georgia’s junior senator, learned the art of the deal selling houses in the booming northern suburbs of his hometown of Atlanta. But he perfected it during a 30-year political career during which his Republican Party was often out of power. “I tell everybody that the success I had in politics comes from what I learned in real estate,” Isakson once said. “It’s the art of compromise.”Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006.

Isakson likes to say he was running as a Republican in Georgia back when “nobody did that,”Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006.back when southern Democrats ruled Georgia and most of the South. Isakson, though, has always been more pragmatic than ideological and that’s helped him build a reputation for getting things done in both the Georgia General Assembly and Congress.

"He could have passed a bill as easily as a Democrat because everyone liked him and he'd reciprocate," former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, once said of Isakson. "He reaches across the aisle. He's - he'll hate this word - but he's very moderate. I'm very high on Johnny Isakson. I know that's crazy for a Democrat to say, (but) if every Republican were like Johnny Isakson, I'd be one."Bob Kemper, “Middle ground puts Isakson in pivotal position,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 4, 2006.

Isakson’s low-key, workman-like style was his greatest appeal to Georgia voters when they chose him to replace two of the state’s more bombastic politicians, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R), who resigned in 1998, and former Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat who retired after denouncing his own party and speaking in favor of President George W. Bush at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

Where Gingrich and Miller were out-spoken and at home in the spotlight, Isakson is reserved and prefers to work behind-the-scenes. While Gingrich and Miller turned to scorched-Earth tactics, Isakson often acts as a consensus builder.“Isakson, Georgia's new U.S. senator, is no Zell,” Associated Press/USA Today, Nov. 3, 2004.

"Everybody from Georgia who's in politics today, I don't know of anybody I'd put ahead of Johnny Isakson,” former Georgia House Majority Leader Larry Walker, a Democrat who negotiated often with Isakson, once said.Bob Kemper, “Middle ground puts Isakson in pivotal position,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 4, 2006.

Isakson’s style and willingness to work with members of the opposition party have allowed him to leave his mark on major legislation – including the No Child Left Behind education bill, immigration reform and federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, among other things – even as a freshman.

At a Glance

Current Position: U.S. Senator (since January 2005)

Career History: U.S. Representative (1998 to 2004); Chairman, Georgia Board of Education (2006), Georgia State Senate (1993 to 1996), Georgia State House (1976 to 1990)

Birthday: Dec. 28, 1944

Hometown: Marietta, Georgia

Alma Mater: B.A., University of Georgia, 1966.

Spouse: Dianne

Religion: Methodist

DC Office: 120 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510 202/224-3643

State Office: Atlanta, 770/661-0999

Website

Path to Power

John Hardy “Johnny” Isakson, the grandson of Swedish immigrants and son of a successful real- estate salesman, helped turn what in the 1970s was a bedroom community north of his hometown of Atlanta into one the fastest-growing and wealthiest suburbs in the country and, in the process, into one of the most potent political power bases in Georgia.

Isakson started selling houses in 1967, the year after he graduated from the University of Georgia and while he was serving a six-year tour with the Georgia Air National Guard. Even as he was building a business, Isakson began talking about a career in politics, inspired, he says, by two polar opposites: Democratic President John F. Kennedy and conservative icon Barry Goldwater.Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006.

“Between Kennedy’s youth and the Vietnam War and landing on the moon, there were a lot of things that could either turn you on or off to public service. I was one of those who got turned on,” Isakson said.Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006.

Start of a Political Career

The building boom of which Isakson was a part quickly overwhelmed the residents of Cobb County and a backlash “no-growth” movement popped up on the county board of commissioners. To counter it, Isakson ran for the county board.Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006.

But just as his earliest days in real estate proved to be an “absolute failure,”Jean Torkelson, “For Georgia’s Johnny Isakson, politics and real estate are forever together,” Lore Magazine, March/April 2006. so, too, was Isakson’s first foray into politics. He lost that county commissioner race largely because he was a Republican in a solidly Democratic area, and went on to lose his first race for the Georgia General Assembly in 1974 as well.

Isakson rebounded two years later and won the Georgia House seat he’d lost in 1974. He went on to enjoy a 7-term career in the state House, eventually becoming minority leader, and a two-term stint in the state Senate. But Isakson also lost two more elections in that time: the 1990 governor’s race and the 1996 U.S. Senate election.

Early Setbacks

Isakson lost the bruising governor’s race to then-Lt. Gov. Zell Miller, a popular Democrat whose campaign was managed by a neophyte political operative named James Carville. Miller not only had a better statewide organization, but ran on a popular pledge to start a state lottery and use the proceeds for public schools. Isakson proposed holding a ballot referendum on the lottery, but that would have delayed its implementation by at least two years. Miller won easily. Ronald Smothers, “Democrats Hopeful After Miller’s Georgia Victory,” New York Times, Aug. 8, 1990.

When Sen. Sam Nunn, a gentlemanly Georgia Democrat to whom Isakson has been favorably compared, retired in 1996, Isakson made another statewide bid. This time, however, he took a risk he hoped would distinguish him from other Republicans in the field who were courting religious conservatives. He ran a television ad announcing his support for abortion rights even though the GOP primary was dominated by those religious conservatives for whom opposition to abortion rights was a litmus test for candidates.Kevin Sack, “Georgian Makes a Bold Stand on Abortion,” New York Times, June 16, 1966.

The ad featured a woman who said two of Isakson’s Republican primary opponents “will vote to ban abortions, making criminals out of women and their doctors.” Then Isakson, his wife, Dianne, and their teenage daughter appeared on the screen. "I don't believe our government should fund, teach or promote abortion," Isakson said. "But I will not vote to amend the Constitution to make criminals of women and their doctors. I trust my wife, my daughter and the women of Georgia to make the right choice."Kevin Sack, “Georgian Makes a Bold Stand on Abortion,” New York Times, June 16, 1996.

Isakson was co-chair of Republican Bob Dole’s (D-Kan.) presidential campaign in 1996, as he was in 1988, and may have been inspired to run the ad by Dole’s own attempt to have a Constitutional amendment banning abortion removed from the national party’s platform to prevent its convention from becoming a “televised holy war over social issues.”Kevin Sack, “Georgian Makes a Bold Stand on Abortion,” New York Times, June 16, 1966.

Isakson won the 1996 Senate primary but didn’t get a majority of votes, forcing him into a run-off election that attracted little public attention because it was held around the time the 1996 Summer Olympic Games opened in Atlanta. Isakson did his best to use the Olympics to his advantage, once boasting he was as “busy as a badminton player against China” and then saying of his opponent “if hypocrisy was an Olympic sport, this guy will win a gold medal.” But he didn’t laugh at the result: He lost.Kevin Sack, “In Georgia, Candidates Are Second,” New York Times, Aug. 4, 1996.

House Career

Even as Isakson was trying to climb the political ladder, another Cobb County politician, much more flamboyant and politically ambitious than Isakson, was progressing rapidly. Gingrich, a back-bencher in Congress in the 1970s was by 1994 leading a Republican surge that seized control of the House from Democrats for the first time in 40 years. Gingrich had become speaker, but in a flurry of ethics charges and Republican election losses he announced in 1998 that he was resigning his House seat.

Isakson was Gingrich’s handpicked successor. Though stopping short of a full endorsement, Gingrich issued a statement calling Isakson “a very close personal friend'' who would ''do a great job of representing Georgia's Sixth District.” Isakson raised $1 million and added $500,000 of his own money to total far more than any of his five challengers. Furthermore, he openly embraced conservatives, talking mainly about economic issues and playing down moderate positions on social issues like abortion. He easily won the special election to replace Gingrich in January 1999.Kevin Sack, “In Georgia, Vote Looms on Gingrich Successor,” New York Times, Feb. 22, 1999.

Russell K. Paul, the Georgia Republican Party chairman at the time, summed up the differences between Isakson and the man he replaced this way: “Whereas Newt was referred to as a bomb-thrower and a revolutionary, he was also a bridge burner. And Johnny Isakson is perceived as the quintessential bridge builder.''Kevin Sack, “In Georgia, Vote Looms on Gingrich Successor,” New York Times, Feb. 22, 1999.
Kevin Sack, “In Georgia, Vote Looms on Gingrich Successor,” New York Times, Feb. 22, 1999

Senate Career

Isakson went on to win a full House term in 2000 and was re-elected easily in 2002. But in 2005, Georgia Sen. Zell Miller, a Democrat who turned on his own party and endorsed Bush for re-election in 2004, announced he was retiring and Isakson immediately threw his hat into the Senate ring.

Two conservative opponents for the Republican nomination tried to portray Isakson as too moderate for Georgia, citing the abortion-rights ad Isakson ran in 1996. But the state’s business community rallied around Isakson and he sailed to victory in the 2004 race.Shaila K. Dewan, “Georgians Line Up Candidates to Fill Miller’s Seat,” New York Times, July 21, 2004.

Isakson has since repaid some of those Georgia business interests with legislation that has financially aided some of the state’s largest corporations, including Delta Airlines and Home Depot.

2010 Campaign

Isakson’s popularity in Georgia is evident by the way his 2010 re-election campaign is shaping up. At a time when Democrats are scrapping to snatch Senate seats from Republicans in their quest for a filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority, several prominent Georgia Democrats, including Barnes, have already announced that they’d sit out Isakson’s race or run instead for governor.

Isakson was heavily recruited by Georgia Republicans to run for governor in hopes of extending the GOP’s eight-year hold on the office. (Until Gov. Sonny Purdue was elected in 2002, there had not been a Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction).“Georgia – Political parties,” CityData.com.But Isakson announced in February 2009 that he’d seek reelection instead.Jim Tharpe, “No Isakson opponents in line,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Feb. 17, 2009.

Though the political landscape could change by November 2010, Isakson’s current situation sharply contrasts with the 2008 re-election fight of his partner in Congress, Sen. Saxby Chambliss ( R-Ga.). Democrats crowded their 2008 primary hoping for a shot at Chambliss, who was ultimately forced into a drawn out and expensive runoff race before winning re-election in December 2008. Jim Tharpe, “Chambliss wins second term in U.S. Senate, Defeats Jim Martin after arduous runoff campaign,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Dec. 3, 2008.

In His Own Words

“I tell everybody that the success I had in politics comes from what I learned in real estate,” Isakson once said. “It’s the art of compromise.”

The Issues

Isakson is the ultimate consensus-builder in a chamber that has become increasingly polarized in recent years.

When President George W. Bush and Congress clashed on immigration reform in 2007, it was Isakson who first proposed a border security-first policy that added guards and a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, as many Republican lawmakers wanted, before other reforms sought by Bush, including a guest-worker program, could be put in place. But by the time the White House adopted Isakson’s proposal, opposition to immigration reform had already taken root among conservatives, including Georgia voters, and the reforms died in the Senate.Vicky Eckenrode, “Isakson calls for stronger border security,” Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, June 6, 2006.

Though Isakson is willing to work across the aisle, Georgia remains a conservative bastion and there are limits on how far Isakson is willing to go to strike a deal. That was evident during the debate over President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus bill.

Economic Crisis

Isakson voted with the majority of Senate Republicans against the $800 billion economic stimulus bill proposed by President Obama, even though the Senate approved Isakson’s proposal to double the tax credit for home buyers to $15,000 – at a total cost of $18.5 billion. “This legislation is yet another example of Congress throwing money at the symptoms but not getting to the root of the problem. While there are some good provisions in this bill, it is primarily spending money on programs that should not be categorized as stimulus and will not do anything to help our economy,” Isakson said.“Georgia Senator, Johnny Isakson, vows to vote against cutting off debate on the ‘Stimulus Plan.’” FreeRepublic.com, Feb. 7, 2009.

Isakson teamed with Sen. Kent Conrad ( D-N.D.) in proposing that a special commission, modeled after the independent panel that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, be created to examine how the nation’s banking system failed. The proposal would give the commission a $3 million budget, subpoena powers and the power to refer any evidence of illegality to state or federal authorities. It awaits Senate action.Bob Keefe, “Banking crisis needs 9/11-style investigation, Isakson says,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 22, 2009.

Iraq War

Georgia has 13 military bases and many of the ground troops headed for Iraq have come through two of them, Ft. Benning or Ft. Stewart. Isakson has gone to visit those troops in Iraq every year since the war started in 2003. And, though he supports the war and Bush’s decision to increase troop levels there in 2007, he has not hesitated to admit to U.S. shortcomings there.M.J. Stephey, “Voices of the Iraq War: Sen. Johnny Isakson – Republican,” Time, March 18, 2008.

Isakson acknowledges that “we lost control for a period of time” following the fall of Baghdad and the capture of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But he said Bush’s decision to send an additional 20,000 troops worked to help quell the violence and that the U.S. has seen “a dramatic decrease in casualties, a dramatic increase in stability and that has been sustained into” 2008. Isakson has opposed calls for early troop withdrawal.M.J. Stephey, “Voices of the Iraq War: Sen. Johnny Isakson – Republican,” Time, March 18, 2008.

Stem Cells

Bush’s 2001 decision to ban federal funding for medical research using stems cells from human embryos roiled the scientific community and forced some conservative lawmakers to choose between their support for the promising research and the demands of their anti-abortion rights constituents who opposed funding it. After talking with researchers, Isakson proposed a compromise that would allow scientists to use embryos that fertility clinics had already determined would not grow in a woman’s womb. He convinced both the White House and the Catholic bishops to support his proposal, but the ban was still not repealed until 2009 when Obama issued an executive order allowing federal funding for all embryonic stem cell research.Jim Galloway, “The stem cell debate on C-Span,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 11, 2007.

Helping Georgia Businesses

During his first year in the Senate, Isakson crafted legislation that would allow major airlines to repay the shortfalls in their pension programs over 25 rather than three years, as the law then required. It was a boon for six major airlines, including Delta in Isakon’s home state, that jointly owed nearly $21 billion in back pension payments. But the change drew complaints from low-fare airlines like Air Tran and Southwest, which didn’t have those kinds of pension deficits and which wanted Congress to focus instead on airport improvements and reducing security fees on airline tickets.Micheline Maynard, “Airlines Seek to Stretch Out Pension Dues,” New York Times, April 23, 2005.

In 2007, Isakson came to the assistance of Home Depot, one of the nation’s largest retailers headquartered in Atlanta, by inserting language into an immigration bill that prevented state and local governments from requiring the home-improvement store chain to build shelters for day laborers on their store sites. The amendment was a blow to local land-use laws in general and a preemptive strike, specifically, against the Los Angeles City Council, which was considering requiring Home Depot to build such shelters at 13 locations.Editorial, “Home Depot Amendment,” New York Times, June 22, 2007

Health Care Reform

During the 2009 health care reform debate, Isakson said he would oppose the public option.Stand With Doctor Dean web site

The Network

Isakson and Georgia’s other senator, Saxby Chambliss (R), attended the University of Georgia together and rose together in Georgia politics. Though both are conservative, pro-business legislators, Isakson has been credited as more of a bridge-builder to Democrats. The two work as a team on state issues and routinely announce their positions on issues and funding for state projects jointly. They are married to two sorority sisters they met in college.

Isakson and ex-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) are both conservatives who built their political bases in Georgia’s Cobb County, one of the most affluent and heavily Republican counties in the country. But they are polar opposites stylistically. While Gingrich favored the spotlight, Isakson prefers working behind-the-scenes. Whereas ideology is Gingrich’s driving force, Isakson is much more of a pragmatic problem-solver. Butm Isakson was Gingrich’s handpicked successor after the former House speaker announced his resignation in 1998.

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