Paul Broun was endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, a former GOP presidential contender, in his effort to win Georgia’s 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a recent announcement from Broun’s campaign.
Broun, who represented all or part of Athens-Clarke County during a seven-year stint in the House ending with his unsuccessful 2014 campaign for one of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats, is in a five-person Republican contest for the 9th District seat, which includes a northern corner of Athens-Clarke County and extends north and east to the Georgia state line. Broun, a physician, moved from Oconee County to Habersham County in connection with his bid for the 9th District seat.
“Paul Broun is a steadfast fighter for liberty who has never caved to establishment pressures,” Paul noted in his endorsement. Paul had previously endorsed Broun in his unsuccessful bid for the Georgia seat in the Senate.
“Broun stood with me to end NSA spying on innocent Americans ... and to prevent drones from being used against U.S. citizens on U.S. soil,” Paul said in his endorsement. “He introduced Audit the FED in the House and fought to get it passed.”
Paul went on to call Broun “unquestionably one of the strongest pro-liberty congressmen we can elect.”
“Sen. Paul’s endorsement is a badge of honor for me because he’s such a strong leader for the cause of liberty,” Broun said in a news release announcing the endorsement. “When I get back to Congress, I will continue standing with Rand to fight for liberty. ... In Congress, I’ll introduce bills to abolish the Department of Education, to repeal and replace Obamacare with market-based, patient-run healthcare, and to put an end to any and all forms of government-run gun owner registries.”
Among Broun’s other endorsements are Georgia Right to Life, the National Association for Gun Rights and Special Operations Speaks. He has also been endorsed by the Constitutional Rights PAC, with which he affiliated himself last year in its effort to keep California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy from becoming the House speaker; the Conservative Action Fund, with which he worked in 2014 in an effort to keep airline flights from countries dealing with an Ebola outbreak from coming to the United States, and Tea Party Forward, where a March 1 news release identified him as chairman of the organization.
The 9th District incumbent, Gainesville attorney Doug Collins, has also picked up a number of endorsements as May 24 balloting in the congressional race approaches. He has been endorsed by former Georgia congressman Jack Kingston, who served a south Georgia district from 1993 until 2015, when he, like Broun, lost a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Collins has also been endorsed by the American Conservative Union, which hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, an important annual gathering for conservatives and aspiring GOP presidential candidates.
And, Collins has been endorsed by Rep Trent Franks, R-Arizona, who praised Collins for “a strong record supporting the pro-life movement ... I’m personally thankful for his time and energy spent in defending the lives of the unborn.”
None of the other candidates in the race — Bernie Fontaine of Suches, a retired military man, retiree Mike Scupin of Cumming and retired educator Roger Fitzpatrick of Cleveland — are reporting any endorsements.
On his campaign website, Fontaine directs a jab specifically at Broun, asking, “Does voting ‘No’ on everything make one a realistic conservative? Does sitting in church make one a Christian?”