Fannin County voters had the opportunity to meet with two Georgia Republican candidates last week when U.S. Congressional Representative and U.S. Senatorial Candidate Doug Collins and Georgia Speaker of the House and State Legislative Candidate David Ralston made a stop in Blue Ridge for Collins’ 17-day campaign tour of more than 60 cities Wednesday, October 21.
During the meet and greet event, both Ralston and Collins shared their belief in the power of North Georgia voters, and Ralston explained that the senate race in Georgia is “one of the most important political races in the country this year.”
Collins explained that his race is a primary, and will likely result in a run-off.
“There’s a Republican and Democrat primary going on,” he said. “That’s the way the governor wanted it. He chose to do it in November instead of when we could do it in June. So, what that means is there’s 20 people on the ballot. Now there’s Republicans, Democrats, Green Party, Independents, anybody with $5,000 who wanted to run for senate is on this ballot. With that many people in the race, there’s going to be a run-off.”
During the event, Ralston and Collins encouraged those in attendance to not believe information coming out of Collins’ competitors’ campaigns.
“I may not have $35 million, but I got all I need because I got you and I’ve got the voters of Georgia, and they understand who the real conservative is in this race,” Collins said.
Collins believes Fannin County voters are important in this election because they consistently show up to the polls.
“They have always been one of our biggest bases, because they know us,” he said. “We’ve actually been up here where they know who we are. They’ve trusted us. For us to come back up here and see this turn out today in the middle of the afternoon, they show that that’s important. We wanted to make sure that we’ve never forgotten them. So, we’re just excited to be back up here.”
During the event, he also highlighted his endorsements from local Georgia leaders rather than representatives in Washington, D.C., stating, “You know what I’m really proud of? You look across this state, and I’ve had over 41/42 sheriffs who have endorsed us. I’ve had multiple police chiefs. I’ve had county commissions. We’ve had over 40, almost 50, members of the General Assembly who have come together because they know that I’m going to fight for you. That the only investment I have in this state is 54 years of living here.”