GOP opponent declared winner; Dem squeaks ahead overnight

Rep. Sanford Bishop (D) pulled ahead of Republican Mike Keown shortly after 1:00 a.m. Results from heavily Democratic areas where the votes were counted into the wee hours of Wednesday morning moved Bishop into the
lead, according to the Georgia secretary of state. 

With 80 percent of the vote counted, The Associated Press originally declared Keown the winner. But Bishop squeaked ahead to a 51.4 percent lead over Keown’s 48.6 percent, with 95 percent of districts reporting results.

Bishop has been representing the southern Georgia district for the past nine terms and has only ever faced one serious challenge to his post, in 2000.