White County Election Results
News, Politics May 24, 2016General Primary Election
May 24, 2016
100 Percent of Precincts Reporting
U.S. House 9th District
Doug Collins 50,332
Paul Broun 18,045
Roger Fitzpatrick 8,667
Mike Scupin 2,795
Bernie Fontaine 2,269
Sheriff
Neal Walden 2,790
Aaron Autry 1,459
County Commission, Dist. 4
Craig Bryant 671
Shawn Henderson 477
Board of Education Chair
Missy Jarrard 2,215
Kendyl Brock-Hunter 1,459
9th District Congressional Candidates on FYN’s Candidate Day
Politics May 23, 2016Mike Scupin, Roger Fitzpatrick, Paul Broun, Doug Collins, and Bernie Fontaine speak on FYN’s Candidate Day for the citizens on the eve of the election day.
https://youtu.be/GT_o0UdWgWU
Advanced Voting Slow in White Co. Where Turnout is Less Than 5 Percent
News, Politics May 13, 2016CLEVELAND, Ga. — Advanced voter turnout is slow in White County but Chief Voter Registrar Lisa Manning says it is way ahead of where it was in 2012. But that’s only because there were no contested races in the 2012 General Primary. This year, there are three local races, including sheriff, county commission and school board.
As of 10 a.m. Friday, Chief Voter Registrar Lisa Manning said only 540 ballots had been cast or less than 5 percent of White County’s 13,415 active registered voters.
“The Sheriff’s race is the most heated race,” Manning said. “It’s the one that seems to be drawing the most interest.” Veteran Sheriff Neal Walden is being challenged by Aaron Autry
In the District 4 County Commission race, incumbent Craig Bryant will face Shawn Henderson. In the Board of Education race, incumbent Kendyl Brock Hunter is being challenged by Missy Jarrard.
There is also an election for Ninth District Congress where incumbent Doug Collins of Gainesville has angered many conservatives when he voted for President Barack Obama’s Omnibus bill and supported John Boehner for Speaker of the House. As a result, he has drawn four challengers in former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun, Lanier Tea Part Patriots founder Mike Scupin, White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick and retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine.
The lone state race on the ballot is for State Senate where incumbent Steve Gooch,who many consider an “establishment Republican,” is being challenged for re-election in the 51st District by John Williamson, co-founder of the Gilmer County Tea Party.
Advanced voting takes place at the Mauney Building, 1241 Helen Highway between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Saturday voting will take place tomorrow.
Fitzpatrick Impressive in Town Hall Meeting
News, Politics May 10, 2016GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Roger Fitzpatrick, an ex-Marine and former White County administrator, appears to have established himself as the No. 1 contender for 9th District Congressman Doug Collins’ job with a strong performance during the AccessWDUN/Gainesville Times town hall meeting at Brenau Downtown Center last night.
Fitzpatrick demonstrated confidence, knowledge of the issues and likeability in responding to questions from a near-capacity crowd that showed its appreciation with loud and frequent applause for the Cleveland, Georgia native.
In addition to Fitzpatrick and Collins, the 90-minute event featured Lanier Tea Party Patriots founder Mike Scupin, retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine and former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun. The challengers took turns answering questions from attendees as well as tweets from WDUN Radio’s listening audience.
Fitzpatrick, who served nine years in the Marine Corps Reserves and 32 years as a White County teacher and administrator, said veterans would be better served by getting rid of the Veterans Administration and allowing private industry to fill that role. He also called for an end to the Department of Education, saying, “The federal government has no business in education.”
He borrowed a line from President Bill Clinton when asked what is the most important issue facing the nation. “It’s the economy stupid,” he said. But, he added that getting government out of the way so businesses can thrive was a close second.
An issue that has plagued Collins throughout the campaign and has him in deep trouble with voters in the ultra conservative 9th District has been his support for President Barack Obama’s Omnibus bill. The bill provides funding for Planned Parenthood, the Muslim refugee program, sanctuary cities and a foreign worker program that costs Americans jobs at a time of increasing concerns about terrorist threats against the United States.
When Collins tried to explain his vote, he was shouted down by angry voters and his response was drowned out until Fitzpatrick’s Marine training kicked in and he stepped forward to admonish the audience, saying, “Show some respect, please.” The intervention earned Fitzpatrick the crowd’s admiration.
Collins then continued, saying, “The facts are if you could have gotten Planned Parenthood out of the Omnibus bill you would have done it but you couldn’t. The way you get it done is through the reconciliation act or a bill which I had voted for prior to that.” But that explanation failed to sway his opponents.
Fitzpatrick said, “Anything that would violate the moral conscience of a decent individual or the original intent (of the Constitution), you cannot vote for.” He also pointed out that Planned Parenthood is now paying for transgender operations.
Scupin called Collis’ explanation the “Doug Collins Dog and Pony Show” and said, “It doesn’t just happen with Planned Parenthood. It happens with nearly every vote he makes up there. He’s against the Department of Education because of how it effects his wife when she teaches and yet he votes to fund it. This has got to stop. Either you’re for it or against it.”
Broun said, “I would not have voted for the Omnibus bill. I never have.”
Voters also wanted to know if the candidates would support presumptive Republican nominee for President Donald Trump.
Fontaine said, “Of course I support Donald Trump.”
Scupin said, “Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party and as such I definitely will support him. Donald Trump rose to the top of the Republican Party not because of Donald Trump but because of the Republican Party.Their failure to do the right thing when they had the opportunity is what gave him a path to this victory.”
Broun said, “The people have spoken. We need to have the people’s choice be the nominee of our party. I don’t want to see the establishment try to steal away the people’s choice.”
Collins seemed a bit more hesitant, saying, “If Trump is our nominee, I’ll support the nominee. But what about the values Donald Trump has. The question is where do you stand on conservative values? Will you be the standard bearer of our party’s values? The fact is that nobody in this room would be happy with Hillary Clinton in the White House. Nobody who would be happy with a socialist running the White House.
Fitzpatrick said, “I voted for Ted Cruz and would do so again but Donald Trump won the nomination and I will support the nominee. Whoever gets in there — and I sure do hope it’s Donald Trump — you’ve got to work with and if he stands up and does something I don’t like then he needs to be called out on it even if he is a Republican.”
Advanced Voting Underway in White County
News, Politics May 3, 2016WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — Advanced voting for the May 24 General Primary started Monday in White County where voters must decide who will represent them in several federal, state and local offices.
Ninth District Congressman Doug Collins of Gainesville angered many conservatives when he voted for President Barack Obama’s Omnibus bill and supported John Boehner for Speaker of the House. As a result, he has drawn four challengers in former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun, Lanier Tea Part Patriots founder Mike Scupin, White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick and retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General Bernie Fontaine.
State Senator Steve Gooch,who many consider an “establishment Repubican,” is being challenged for re-election in the 51st District by John Williamson, co-founder of the Gilmer County Tea Party.
Incumbent District 1 County Commissioner Terry Goodger will serve another four years after his only challenger, Ron Hood withdrew from the race for medical reasons. In the District 4 race, incumbent Craig Bryant will face Shawn Henderson.
Veteran Sheriff Neal Walden is being challenged by Aaron Autry and incumbent Board of Education Chairwoman Missy Jarrard is up against Kendyl Brock-Hunter.
Advanced voting takes place at the Mauney Building, 1241 Helen Highway between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. There will also be one day of Saturday voting on May 14.
Lumpkin County Republican Party 51st State Senate District, 9th Congressional District, and U.S. Senate Forum
Politics May 1, 2016Lumpkin County Republican Party Forum 4/30/2016.
Scroll down to watch video of each forum.
https://youtu.be/DEwu_VWtA8k
https://youtu.be/G9btkRfBW_c
https://youtu.be/OXtFSefwoeA
Challengers Blast Congressman Collins In Live Debate Broadcast on FYN TV
News, Politics April 25, 2016ELLIJAY, Ga. — In a fiery hour-long debate broadcast live on FYN TV and moderated by Fetch Your News owner Brian K. Pritchard Friday, four challengers — Paul Broun, Mike Scupin, Roger Fitzpatrick and Bernie Fontaine — took turns attacking Georgia’s 9th District Congressman Doug Collins on issues ranging from his support of President Obama’s Omnibus bill to what they see as his less than conservative voting record.
Fitzpatrick, a long time educator from White County, said Collins’ voting record is not representative of the 9th District, which he called, “the third most conservative district in the entire United States. If you look at the Conservative Review website, which grades everybody according to the original intent of the Constitution, Mr. Collins has a 59 percent voting record,” Fitzpatrick said.
By far the number one issue his opponents used to batter Collins was the Omnibus bill which most conservatives view with contempt because it provides funding for the Dreamer’s Act for children in the U.S. illegally, sanctuary cities, refugee programs, Middle East immigration programs that have been exploited by terrorists and Planned Parenthood.
Former 10th District U.S. Congressman Paul Broun said “The greatest moral issue we face as a nation is the killing of over one million babies every year and it must stop. The Omnibus bill funds Planned Parenthood while they go on butchering babies and selling baby parts.”
Broun added, “I have never voted for an omnibus bill and I never will.”
That gave Collins an opportunity to launch a conter attack. Collins claimed Broun voted for an omnibus bill in December 2007. “Either that’s an incompetence issue or you’re just lying,” Collins shot back.
Broun said his vote was not for the bill at all, but an amendment to the bill and that every Republican but one voted for the same amendment. “This is just more of the lies and distortion we get out of the Congressman,” Broun countered.
Lanier Tea Party Patriot Founder Mike Scupin said he would never have voted for the Omnibus bill and questioned how Collins could “swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States then vote for it when it had so many unconstitutional things in it.”
Fontaine, a retired Army and National Guard Brigadier General who ran against Collins four years ago, said, “Congress was dysfunctional then and its dysfunctional now. What we have is a systemic problem with two career politicians against three citizen candidates.”
Congressional Panel 4/22/16
Politics April 24, 2016BKP sits down with 4 Congressional Candidates to talk about issues facing America and Georgia.
https://youtu.be/l7SvcCEld4I
Tuesday is Deadline to Register for May Primary
News, Politics April 24, 2016WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — Much is at stake in state and local elections May 24 but you can’t vote if you’re not registered and the last day to register is Tuesday, April 26.
One of the most important races is in the 9th District where incumbent U.S. Congressman Doug Collins of Gainesville has come under fire from conservatives for his support of President Obama’s Omnibus bill. His challengers include former 10th District Congressman Paul Broun, Lanier Tea Part Patriots founder Mike Scupin, White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick and retired Army and National Guard Brigadier Genreal Bernie Fontaine.
State Senator Steve Gooch of Dahlonega is running for reelection in the 51st District and has drawn a challenger in John Williamson, co-founder of the Gilmer County Tea Party.
Locally, there are key races for Board of Commissioners in District 1 and District 4, Board of Education Chairman and Sheriff.
Terry Goodger will challenge incumbent Ron Hood in the District 1 race and Craig Bryant and Shawn Henderson will vie for the District 4 seat.
Aaron Autry is challenging long-time Sheriff Neal Walden and Kendyl Brock-Hunter will face incumbent Missy Jarrard in the race for Board of Education Chairman.
TEA Party of Gilmer County 9th District Debate; Paul Broun and Roger Fitzpatrick have heated exchange over the topic of ethics.
Politics April 21, 2016TEA Party of Gilmer County host 9th district debate. Candidates left to right: Mike Scupin, Paul Broun, Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine.
Congressman Doug Collins did not attend.
A must watch video.
https://youtu.be/KNTC5VB9z_w
Scupin & Fontaine Jointly Ask FEC to Investigate Collins and Collins Campaign Citing Evidence of Purposeful Violations
Politics April 12, 2016Below is the press release from Hank Sullivan. 9th District Congressional Candidates Mike Scupin and Bernie Fontaine send a letter to the Federal Election Commission concerning Congressman Doug Collins and the Collins campaign.
Today, Georgia 9th District candidates for US House of Representatives Mike Scupin and Bernie Fontaine signed a joint letter of complaint to the Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC, citing evidence that US Representative Doug Collins, his campaign and campaign consulting firm, The Stoneridge Group, have knowingly and willingly violated FEC regulations regarding the FEC requirement of attaching campaign disclaimers to all public communications authorized and paid for by a candidate or his/her campaign committee. The letter asks for a full investigation of Collins and the Collins Campaign, including Collins’ campaign consultant.
The joint letter, which can be found below, and a companion video, cites evidence of three recent instances in which the Collins Campaign, including Rep. Collins personally, and his campaign consultant The Stoneridge Group(SRG), have used a proprietary news and commentary website known aswww.zpolitics.com, owned and operated by the founder and owner of SRG, to offer paid Collins campaign materials to an unsuspecting public, resulting in a process of information laundering, posturing these paid campaign materials as objective news and commentary, and with no campaign disclaimers as the FEC requires, rather than as part of a political campaign supporting Collins in his bid to be reelected 9th District US Representative.
The letter released jointly by Scupin and Fontaine offers solid evidence of these FEC violations and asks for the FEC to perform a full investigation regarding the involvement of the Collins campaign, including Collins himself, Collins’ campaign staff, Collins’ campaign consultant SRG, SRG’s owner Jason Williams and the workings of Williams’ personally-owned and operated website, Zpolitics.com.
The letter can be read below:
Hall County GOP 9th District Congressional Debate. Doug Collins, Paul Broun, Mike Scupin, Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine
Politics April 9, 2016https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3DEHrYkA0g&feature=youtu.be
9th District Congressional Debate
News, Politics April 9, 20169th District Congressional Forum Set for Saturday
News, Politics April 8, 2016GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Independence Day won’t roll around for 3 more months but expect plenty of fireworks when the Hall County Republican Party hosts a forum for candidates for 9th District Congress at its headquarters on Queen City Parkway Saturday at 10 a.m.
In fact, the pyrotechnics have already started. Incumbent Congressman Doug Collins has three other challengers in retired White County educator Roger Fitzpatrick, Bernie Fontaine, a retired U.S. Army and National Guard Brigadier General, and Lanier Tea Party Patriots Founder Mike Scupin.
But so far, Collins and Broun have aimed most of his early firepower at each other.
A Collins campaign ad blasts Broun for “nearly bankrupting his congressional office budget with an excessive amount of taxpayer-funded mail” during a failed bid for the U.S. Senate.
Collins received extra ammunition this week when it was announced that Broun’s former Chief of Staff David Bowser was indicted for supposedly using taxpayer funds to cover the cost of a campaign consultant.
But as politicians often note, you can indict a ham sandwich. Broun, a physician who was first elected to represent the 10th Congressional District in 2007 and served until his unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2014, calls the indictment a “political witch hunt.”
Broun calls his campaign the Fed Up Express and blasts Collins for being an establishment Republican who supported John Boehner for Speaker of the House and voted to pass President Obama’s Omnibus bill which, he said, funds everything from Obamacare to amnesty for illegal aliens to the Syrian refugee resettlement.
Morning Monologue 4/7/16
Politics April 7, 2016See BKP’s full Morning Monologue with Doug Collins and the 9th District.
You can also see the interview on its own further below.
https://youtu.be/otHtNSucMXc
https://youtu.be/0v-rFHYVfRI