By Emelie Rutherford
Georgia Republican and Senate Armed Services Committee member Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ Tuesday reelection victory ensures the F-22 stealth fighter maintains a diehard backer in Congress as the aircraft’s future is debated, analysts said.
“Chambliss has been the most important supporter of the F-22 Raptor in the entire chamber,” said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said about the Lockheed Martin [LMT] aircraft built in Georgia.
Thompson described Chambliss as the Senate’s most “forceful advocate” for the aerospace industry and for protecting homestate defense programs. Lockheed Martin has more than 2,500 F-22 employees at its Marietta, Ga., facility.
“When you have him on your side, it is very hard for people to cut your program, and when you don’t have him on your side, wherever you’re going to go for support is likely to be less vociferous, less steadfast,” Thompson said.
Georgia voters who helped Chambliss beat Democratic challenger Jim Martin were not unaware of the incumbent’s advocacy for Lockheed Martin aircraft.
“I work at Lockheed Martin and Saxby Chambliss has been one of the main leaders in getting us a lot of funding for the F-22, C-130,” Chambliss supporter Norman DeWalt told Tennessee television news station WRCB in a segment aired yesterday. “All that’s built right here. And we’d like to keep those jobs here in America and Georgia.”
Through mid-October, Lockheed Martin employees alone donated $47,100 to Chambliss, according to campaign finance records.
Chambliss captured 57 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s runoff election, according to the Associated Press.
Chambliss’ victory in the runoff–which was held because no candidate captured more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 4 general election, as required in Georgia for a win–ensures Senate Democrats will not have a 60-vote filibuster-proof majority. The race garnered national attention and drew failed GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), as well as former Democratic president Bill Clinton and his vice president, Al Gore, to the Georgia campaign trail.
Chambliss garnered far more in defense-industry and overall donations than his challenger through mid-October, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Chambliss raised $152,650 from employees of defense firms–including the $47,100 from Lockheed Martin personnel–while Martin raised just $1,750 from the industry, through mid- October, CRP data shows.
Overall, Chambliss raised nearly $14 million since his last election, while Martin pulled in about $5.4 million. In the month-long period before the runoff alone, the GOP incumbent raised $1.9 million, according to CRP.
Industry representatives gave similar reactions to Chambliss’ victory.
“I think his reelection will return a strong advocate, strong voice in national defense for aerospace issues, particularly the importance of tactical aviation, which would include aircraft such as F-22…to the Senate,” said Cord Sterling, the vice president of legislative affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association.
F-22 supporters said news of Chambliss’ victory helps offset their concerns about what will happen to the aircraft program because of President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to keep Robert Gates on as defense secretary.
Richard Aboulafia, vice president for analysis at the Teal Group in Fairfax, Va., questioned the Obama team’s agenda regarding tactical aircraft recapitalization.
“If they have a inclination, it’s going to be against the F-22, and Gates is going to reinforce that inclination,” Aboulafia said. “So any salvation is going to come from Congress and key allies like Saxby Chambliss….You need someone to champion your cause, and he’s done a good job.”
Under the fiscal year 2009 defense authorization act, the Obama administration must decide no later than March 1 whether to obligate funds for continued production of 20 F-22s, which would eventually be purchased in FY ’10.
Observers also said this week’s announced departure of Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England–a F-22 skeptic–also is a plus for the aircraft program’s fate.
While Chambliss is in the minority party, he still has power because his seniority is growing on the SASC and because Senate rules grant individual members great sway over deliberations.
Tim Stanos, a defense analyst at The Avascent Group in Washington, D.C., said if Martin won he likely would have actively supported the F-22 program.
“No politician that represents that state can not go out and fight for that program when it employs 2,000 constituents,” Stanos said. “But I think it would be difficult to be more of a proponent than Sen. Chambliss has been.”
As the Obama administration looks at defense programs to cut, Stanos predicted the F-22 may be in better shape than other efforts not yet in production.
“So any vocal proponents that can remain in Congress are a good thing,” he said.
Lockheed Martin in a statement yesterday said: “Senator Chambliss has always been a great supporter of programs to maintain a strong national defense and we congratulate him on his win.”