Braving the sweltering heat, congressional and local candidates took the hot seat in a debate before a sweating crowd at McCaysville’s Horseshoe Bend Park on Saturday. The event was sponsored by the Fannin County Republican Women and Fannin County Tea Party Patriots, which provided food and drinks for participants and attendees alike.Ninth district, superior court judge, and district attorney candidates participated first in the event, while other county candidates followed.

Presenting first, Ninth District Republican Candidates all agreed that “All Men are created Equal” means equal opportunity, not equal outcome. They also agreed that education is not a responsibility of the Federal Government, specifically, that the Federal Department of Education should be phased out. Rep Collins said the move would help to shrink the size of government. For her part, Zoller called federal funding part of the let-me-get-as-much-money-as-I-can-get mentality, which she said must change.

“On average,”

she said,

“local school systems spend about 25 percent of their time to get about seven percent of federal money.”

She went on to say that if these local systems would stop pursuing that federal money they would be “ahead of the game.” Roger Fitzpatrick elaborated on Zoller’s point.

“The hook,”

he said,

“…is that you give those federal dollars to the States… (and) along with it comes some burdensome requirements that’s (sic) put on anyone that takes the money.”

Here, though, he posed a more important question, asking, if school systems have improved as a result of federal money. His answer was no, emphasizing that any success of schools or school systems come from local involvement. He also said that, if elected, everything he will decide will be framed by the Constitution.

Additionally, all candidates said they are against gun control and any federal agenda to deprive citizens of their second amendment right. However, Fitzpatrick was the only candidate to mention one of the more recent threats to this right, a pending U.N Gun Control Treaty, which only requires the President’s signature and ratification by the Senate. Recently, the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners signed a resolution to urge Georgia Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss to vote “no” on this item. Here, in a passionate response, Fitzpatrick said the U.N. Treaty, if ratified, opens the door to the government removing our other unalienable rights.

In the interest of time, the candidates were only able to take one question from the audience, which dealt with term limits. Fitzpatrick said it would take a Constitutional amendment, which he would support. He said he would support 10 years for house representatives and 12 years for senators. Zoller said she also supports term limits for 12 years total, including time in both houses of Congress. She also said she supports term limits for bureaucrats. Maintaining his previous position, Collins confirmed he would support term limits if they came before him in the form of a Constitutional Amendment. Otherwise, though, he argued elections are the best form of term limits, citing the recent and monumental turnover in Congress.

At the end of the event Martha Zoller and Roger Fitzpatrick said they were both excited to participate in the upcoming July 24th debate, televised on ETC3 (also available live on Fetchyournews.com). Rep. Doug Collins said that he appreciated the people coming out to hear them speak, lauding their commitment to the process.

Candidates running for District Attorney, Superior Court Judge, Commissioner Chairman, Post One Commissioner, Clerk of Courts, Probate Judge, Magistrate Judge, Board of Education, and Coroner also participated in the event. Video of these debates coming soon.