The GOP candidate for North Georgia’s newest congressional seat in the 9th district was decided Tuesday night after a heated runoff election.

State Representative Doug Collins defeated Martha Zoller after weeks of bitter campaigning and endorsements from political heavyweights.

Around 9pm at her watch party in the Gainesville square, Martha Zoller addressed her supporters:

“Just a moment ago, I spoke with Doug Collins and I offered him my congratulations on a hard fought race.”

A climax to the contentious campaign between Zoller, a former radio talk show host who gained endorsements from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich- and state Representative Doug Collins, who said his record at the Capitol made him the obvious conservative choice over Zoller:

“I felt humbled, she’s a gracious lady, she always has been, we’ve known each other for a while, I think it highlighted the differences, we made those differences in the campaign, and we feel good about what has happened here tonight, we feel good about the response that the 9th district gave us and we look forward to continuing that message.”

Collins will now face Jody Cooley, a Democrat from Gainesville on the November 6th ballot.

Tags: parker wallace, Zoller, Collins, 9th District Runoff