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Collins raises $114K for congressional bid
Zoller rakes in $29K for her campaign
CONGRESSMartha Zoller
Martha Zoller

In one month, state Rep. Doug Collins raised more than $114,000 in his campaign to become Georgia's newest congressman.

The amount is nearly four times the cash collected by Collins' only opponent in the 9th District race, radio personality Martha Zoller, who raised a little more than $29,000 by the October reporting deadline, according to reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission over the weekend.

Both Republicans are so far the only official candidates seeking to represent Georgia's newest congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. The reports they filed last weekend show what the two have raised since jumping into the race in early September.

Georgia's new congressional district, if approved by the U.S. Justice Department, will cover all or parts of 20 counties in Northeast Georgia, with its population most heavily concentrated in Gainesville.

Zoller, who announced her bid for Congress on Sept. 7, had seven fewer days than Collins to raise money in the last reporting period.

Her report shows significant support from well-known political action committees.

According to the report she filed Saturday, Zoller received two $2,500 contributions from Citizens United, a political action committee whose challenge of the Federal Elections Commission's rules ended in a landmark Supreme Court decision in 2010 declaring corporately funded campaign broadcasts protected free speech under the First Amendment.

Another $1,000 contribution came from the 13th Colony Leadership Committee, a political action committee connected with U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston.

Zoller also received a $1,000 contribution from U.S. Rep. John Linder, the co-author of the fair tax act.

Zoller, along with Georgia's Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers, will be featured at the Atlanta Tea Party Patriots' first fundraiser in early November.

Zoller is a first-time political candidate, but organizers say the fundraiser will benefit eight lawmakers who voted in step with the Tea Party Patriots. Those votes include opposing changing the date of an election where voters will decide whether to approve new taxes to fund public transportation and opposing the implementation of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Zoller also received a $1,000 contribution from Atlanta attorney Randy Evans, who served as Gov. Nathan Deal's campaign attorney in 2010.

Collins's contributors include a former governor, a number of major contributors to Deal's campaign and many of his colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly.

Among those with close ties to Deal are Deal's business partner at Gainesville Salavage Disposal, Kenneth Cronan, who contributed $2,500.

Jim Walters and Philip Wilheit also contributed $2,500 each.

Former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller, whose grandson manages Collins' congressional campaign, donated $2,500. Miller's wife, Shirley, matched the donation.

Collins also lists a $1,000 donation from his 19-year-old daughter Jordan, a $2,500 contribution from his wife Lisa and another $2,500 contribution from his father.

Associated Press contributed to this report.