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Three-term Republican congressman Johnny Isakson easily won Georgia's U.S. Senate race on Tuesday, picking up a seat for his party in the closely divided chamber, according to results from the state. With 64 percent of precincts reporting, the 59-year-old moderate Republican and former real estate entrepreneur had 62 percent of the votes cast compared to 36 percent for Democrat Denise Majette. Isakson, who would replace retiring Democratic Sen. Zell Miller, had been widely expected to defeat Majette. Polls during the campaign consistently showed him leading Majette, a one-term congresswoman, by double digits. "It's the most humbling experience of my life, and I'm grateful to the people of Georgia," Isakson told reporters after receiving a congratulatory phone call from President Bush. Republicans were so confident of Isakson's chances going into the race that its National Republican Senatorial Committee did not include him when it set up a joint fund-raising committee to benefit its most important and needy candidates. Majette, a black former state judge, had pinned her hopes on a heavy turnout from black and women voters. Blacks make up about 27 percent of registered Georgia voters. Majette's campaign was hampered by her lack of a visible statewide profile, fund-raising problems and a political track record that consisted of a mere two years in Congress. [more]