Democratic Secretary of State Max Cleland won the open seat over Republican businessman Guy Millner.

Millner, a multi-millionaire who had been the nominee for governor in 1994, faced a six-man field including State Senators Clint Day and Johnny Isakson.

In fact, Senator Sam Nunn defeated Mike Hicks by an almost 60% margin in 1984 and faced no opponent in the 1990 election.

In 1992, Republican Paul Coverdell narrowly unseated Democrat Wyche Fowler to take Georgia's other Senate seat.

Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, noted that defeated rival Johnny Isakson was more likely to win the moderate vote due to his pro-choice views on abortion.

In contrast to Isakson's opinion, Guy Millner was opposed to abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.

Cleland did not pursue public office after 2002, but campaigned for John Kerry in 2004 and was selected by President of the United States Barack Obama to serve on the American Battle Monuments Commission starting in 2009.

The Republican candidate in 1996, Guy Millner, ran for Governor of Georgia again in 1998, but lost to Democrat Roy Barnes.