In what is being called a come-from-behind upset, conservative activist Paul Broun Jr. appears to have narrowly upset State Senator Jim Whitehead in the race for Georgia's 10th Congressional District. Broun, who has run for office several times before, leads the runoff with 50.4% to Whitehead's 49.6% -- a difference of just 373 votes.

Whitehead, who got 44% in the June 22nd ten-way primary, was widely considered the favorite to take the seat. Broun made the runoff by just under 200 votes, edging out Democrat James Marlow to take the second runoff spot. Broun's apparent win caught some Republicans in Washington by surprise. "Broun's come from behind run was certainly surprising," said one Washington Republican strategist. "But you have to credit him with running a very aggressive campaign. It just goes to show that campaigns do matter."

The two Republicans were vying to replace Congressman Charlie Norwood who, after being swept into office in 1994, had not faced a serious race for re-election. Norwood died in February after a bout with cancer.

Broun seems to have benefited from Whitehead's assertion, two weeks ago, that the runoff vote would determine which of the district's two main cities, Athens or Augusta, would be in charge. Whitehead, from Augusta, complained that he wasn't getting fair treatment from Athens news media, and after his statement, the Athens Banner-Herald criticized his "petty politics."

It seems that Whitehead's view of the race was correct, at least in some manner. Broun benefited from huge margins in Clarke County (about 89%-11%), Oconee County (about 88%-12%), and Jackson and Madison Counties (about 2-1), all of which surround Athens. Whitehead ran up big margins in McDuffie, Richmond and Columbia Counties, which surround Augusta, but he couldn't overcome his gaffe and the huge margins it caused in Athens.

There are a few precincts left to report, including what should be one strong Whitehead precinct in Columbia County and strong Broun precincts in Jackson and Madison Counties. Whatever the final results, Georgia requires a recount for any result slimmer than 1%. Broun currently leads by 0.8%.

Perhaps it is unsurprising that Broun won Georgia's 10th District. After all, Broun is a medical doctor, and he will join Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA 11), an obstetrician, Rep. John Linder (R-GA 07), a dentist and Rep. Tom Price (R-GA 06), an orthopedic surgeon. Georgia's governor, Sonny Perdue, is a trained veteranarian, and Norwood himself was a dentist and a past president of the Georgia Dental Association.

Broun is the second doctor to fill a vacancy in the 110th Congress. Wyoming Senator John Barrasso, appointed to fill the late Sen. Craig Thomas' seat, is a practicing orthopedic surgeon.