A third Republican state lawmaker has entered the race for a heavily conservative Georgia congressional seat, two weeks after Republican Rep. Doug Collins of Gainesville announced he's running for U.S. Senate.
Republican state Rep. Matt Gurtler of Tiger tweeted on Wednesday that he planned to run. Gurtler, who is from Tiger in Rabun County, represents Georgia's House District 8, which includes portions of Rabun, Towns, Union and White counties. He has held the office since Jan. 2017.
State Sen. John Wilkinson of Toccoa and State Rep. Kevin Tanner of Dawsonville are also running for the seat.
Collins said in January that he will challenge recently-appointed GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a special election in November. That provides an opening for Republicans looking to take Collins' current seat representing Georgia's heavily conservative 9th congressional district.
AccessWDUN staff contributed to this report.
