At the time of the election, Georgia had 13 congressional districts whose lines were redrawn in 2005 after Republicans took control of the state legislature and the previous maps were struck down by federal judges.

[1] Archived July 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine Johnson subsequently defeated McKinney 59% to 41% in the August 8 runoff election.

Democratic incumbent Jim Marshall faced a very tough challenge by former Congressman Mac Collins, who represented an adjoining district from 1993 to 2005.

Recent redistricting made this southern Georgia district more mixed, but the balance still favored Democrats.

In the end however Burns lost by 864 votes and ruled out a recount challenge to the certified results.