A U.S. Army veteran from Commerce will face off against a Navy veteran and gun shop owner from Athens in the race to become Georgia’s next 9th District Congressman.
Andrew Clyde soundly defeated general contractor and two-term Georgia state legislator Matt Gurtler in Tuesday’s Republican runoff. Clyde received 50,059 votes (56%) to Gurtler’s 38,832 (44%) – an 11,227 vote difference.
Devin Pandy won the Democratic nomination, defeating Brooke Siskin of Gainesville. Pandy won by more than 4300 votes after trailing Siskin in the June 9 primary.
In Tuesday’s runoff, Pandy received 8,013 votes (68%) to Siskin’s 3,691 votes (32%). He took to social media to thank his campaign team, family, friends, and supporters.
“We have fought the good fight. We have kept the faith. We have finished this race, but we’re not done yet,” Pandy says. “We have to set our sights on November and as we have done throughout this campaign we will be positive, progressive, and representative of all voters regardless of politics.”
Pandy faces an uphill battle. The 9th District is considered one of the most staunchly conservative districts in the state. It includes all or part of 20 North Georgia counties including Banks, Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Fannin, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White.
The winner of the November 3 General Election will take the seat vacated by Republican Congressman Doug Collins who is running for U.S. Senate.
