There are 433 votes left to be counted in the Georgia Senate race. But no matter which way they go, the Fulton County Elections Board said, there would not be enough votes to give either Senator Saxby Chambliss or his Democratic challenger, Jim Martin, 50 percent of the total vote. That means a runoff will be held on Dec. 2.

Senator John McCain is expected to campaign for Mr. Chambliss, who at last count had amassed 49.8 percent of the vote. Mr. Martin is trying to line up Senator Barack Obama’s help, and he is already running advertisements with his pledge to “work with Barack Obama to get our economy moving again.”

In his own spot, Mr. Chambliss says his opponent “wants to help Barack Obama raise taxes on nearly every small business in Georgia.”

• The New York Times

The last time that there was a Senate runoff in Georgia under this 50% plus one vote law was the Wyche Fowler-Paul Coverdale race in 1992. Fowler, an incumbent Democrat, won the first round, but lost to Coverdale in the runoff when turnout decreased by 44.31%. Paul Coverdale did come from behind, but for Martin, the state isn’t trending toward the Democrats in 2008 the way it was moving toward the Republicans in 1992.

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