Ninth District Candidate Martha Zoller paid a lunch-time visit to Poole’s BBQ in East Ellijay on Thursday. The visit follows news of Hunter Bicknell dropping out of the race, announcing his decision last week. Prior to the announcement, Bicknell drew a large crowd to Poole’s earlier this month, when Republican Voice Joe McCutcheon and Owner of Poole’s BBQ Oscar Poole endorsed the former candidate.

As a Ninth District Candidate, Hunter Bicknell seems to have made a strong impression on Gilmer County Voters. Following his well-attended Poole’s event, a strong performance at last week’s Tea Party Forum, and the suspension of his campaign, the two leading candidates, Rep. Doug Collins and Martha Zoller immediately scheduled events in Ellijay and East Ellijay in an apparent effort to try to pick up voter support left behind by Bicknell.

By comparison Zoller drew a significantly smaller crowd at Poole’s than Bicknell. During the Bicknell event, the crowd filled the larger dining area, where some even had to stand due to lack of seats. Conversely, Zoller’s crowd was able to fit in the smaller, back porch area, which even then was not full. Collins too struggled in drawing a significant crowd to his event on Wednesday at Mike’s Ellijay Restaurant, when only a long table in the back of the restaurant was full and scattered listeners came to hear him speak.

Some residents from the Bicknell event came out to hear Zoller on Thursday. One resident, Calvin Roland said he attended the Bicknell event, but simply to hear his platform, adding that he was not necessarily a Bicknell supporter.

“I believe in looking more at a person’s record and his only record was as the Chairman Commissioner in Jackson County,”

Roland said. Additionally, he noted that one of the strong cases for Collins is that he has voting record in the State House.

“We can look and see how he has stood on positions in the past,”

he said. However, he noted that Bicknell seemed to be an astute business man with a conservative philosophy. Although Zoller does not have a voting record, Roland felt confident he knows where she stands on key issues, saying that her stances are genuine due to her public opinions voiced on her radio show for the last 15 years.

For Roland a key feature for a candidate is what he called

“force of personality.”

“Martha is a lot more outspoken, personable person; Hunter was sort of reticent,”

he explained. He said the new Ninth District Representative should be aggressive in order to stand up to oppositions, a characteristic he admiresin current Ninth District Representative Tom Graves.

Phil Forest, who attended the Collins event this week, also attended Thursday’s event with Martha at Poole’s. Following the event, Forest called Zoller an effective speaker with a lot of good experience. Comparing Zoller and Collins, he feels either will do a good job in Washington. However, he is more inclined to think Zoller would do a better job.

“She expresses a better grasp of the issues at the national level,”

he explained, adding,

“Doug may have the same grasp; he just doesn’t articulate it.”

For their part, McCutcheon and Poole were staunch supporters of former candidate Hunter Bicknell. However, with Bicknell now out of the race and, after hearing Zoller’s talk this week, both McCutcheon and Poole have officially endorsed Martha Zoller for the Ninth District Congressional Seat.

In the wake of last week’s qualifying deadline, the Ninth District Republican Race is down to three candidates: Rep. Doug Collins, Martha Zoller and Roger Fitzpatrick. Mr. Fitzpatrick will also pay a visit to Gilmer County next week, when he will speak at the Gilmer County Republican Meeting on June 7th at Harrison Hall. Democrat Jody Cooley also qualified last week, which extends the contest to the general election in November.