Ninth District Race Heats Up

“If you want bumper-sticker, easy answers, I’m not your candidate.”

On Thursday, November 18th, Gilmer County citizens shuffled into the auxiliary room of The Davis House Restaurant in Ellijay. They sat in booths and huddled around tables pushed together anticipating answers from Ninth District Candidate and Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville). They came with notepads with questions and facts scratched on them; they came out bundled-up in the brisk morning to hear how their concerns would be heard, but most of all, they came to see how much Collins valued the voters of Gilmer County, one of the smaller counties in the new Ninth District.

Sitting at the head of the table, Collins said he was glad to be in Gilmer and thanked all present for the opportunity to meet with them. After giving a brief bio and introduction, he launched into the session, asserting,

“If you want bumper-sticker, easy answers, I’m not your candidate.”

He said he knows what it’s like to get up in the morning and get to work, reflecting on the model of his father’s 30 year career as a state patrolman. As coffee was served with plates of pancakes and toast, so were tough questions.

Gilmer County Tea Party Communications Director Jack Smith started by asking about the level of Collins accessibility to Gilmer County constituents if elected. Currently, in the present or old ninth district Gilmer County citizens have Tom Graves as their representative. Graves’ representative for Gilmer County is Damon Walker, who has won high marks for his visibility and accessibility on Graves’ behalf. However, when the new ninth district was formed in August, Gilmer County citizens feared they would be neglected and overshadowed by the concerns of larger counties, like Hall, Collins’ home base. They were also concerned that their next representative would not vote conservative on their issues, as Graves has done consistently since he has held the seat.

“My commitment is to every person,” Collins asserted, “to represent them as if they were my next door neighbor.”

When asked about his work in the legislature, he noted that he signed the recent bill to reform the HOPE scholarship, and that he was on the committee that worked on the ultra-sound legislation, which states that anyone considering an abortion in Georgia must be shown the ultra-sound, a statement defining his pro-life stance.

During the discussion, Collins also affirmed his support of the Fair-Tax and touted that he signed House Bill 87, the illegal immigration bill. Here, though, he clarified that in addition to HB 87, Georgians also need a bill that retains immigrants who earn advanced degrees in this country so they can stay and start businesses here.

Later as tables steamed with refilled coffee mugs and hot toast, more citizens filled the booths in the backroom. As more people entered, the more grueling the questions became, challenging Collins positions beyond party lines.

One Tea Party member simply named Kirk asked Collins how he felt about Agenda 21, the George Soros manifesto for global Socialism. Stammering a bit, Collins said

“it is something we have to be aware of,”

saying that he firmly disagreed with it. In the face of Agenda 21, his answer was to

“maintain local control of county, state (governments)…that will help curb the Agenda 21 mindset.”

Collins was further challenged when Smith asked him if he supported TSPLOST, the transportation sales tax opposed by local GOP and Tea Party members and supported by State House Speaker David Ralston and Governor Nathan Deal. Collins responded that he was not a proponent of the tax, yet seemed to defend aspects of it. When Smith suggested that a percentage of the tax will be siphoned off for rail projects in Atlanta, Collins retorted that that was a misconception, saying,

“all money stays in the region itself…there’s no big transference (of money).”

Conservative GOP members and Tea Partiers oppose TSPLOST for its alleged ties to Agenda 21.

Collins also waffled when asked if he would support repealing the 17th Amendment, which denies States the method of sending their senators to Washington.

“I know what it did when it took away the States’ voice,”

he admitted, but could not commit to supporting a repeal of the amendment. Ultimately, he said he was undecided on the issue, but would look into it.

After the hour of questions wound down, Collins said he had another engagement and thanked everyone again for the opportunity to come and speak with them. He left the citizens of Gilmer County with words of force and encouragement.

“We need to take hope back,” he said, “where you can go out and start a business; where you can go out and get a job… that’s what real hope means.”

After the meeting, FYN had the opportunity to sit down with the citizens to get their reaction to the candidate’s positions on the issues. Gilmer County Republican Party Chairman George McClellan said that he was impressed with Collins.

“He’s obviously experienced,” he said, “he has experience in the Georgia House… as a business man…and he’s also a major in the Air Force Reserves.”

Others, however, were more cautious. Citizen Frank Oglesby called him a polished politician with all the right answers.

“When I listened to Martha (Zoller, Collins opposition), Oglesby said, “she didn’t say one thing that I disagreed with; when I listened to him today, most of what he said I agreed with…(but) I don’t want to hear that we can’t do away with the EPA.”

Collins’ trip seemed an effort to establish his name in Gilmer County, introduce himself and to show voters their votes count to him. Several voters in attendance commented that they had no idea who he was before the meeting and left with mixed feelings, pitting some of his lukewarm answers to Zoller’s more assertive positions, which many of these same voters heard at a similar, earlier meeting with Zoller.

Three candidates are currently running for the new Ninth Congressional Seat: State Rep. Doug Collins (R-Gainesville), Talk Show Host Martha Zoller, and Jackson County Commission Chairman Hunter Bicknell. Also, FYN has recently learned that Gilmer County Tea Party Jack Smith is working on scheduling a similar type of meeting with the third candidate in the race, Jackson County Commission Chairman Hunter Bicknell. Smith said, though, that these meetings are not endorsements of candidates. FYN will publish an announcement when this meeting is confirmed.

Watch the full video of the meeting.