Broun was elected in July in a runoff of a special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of U.S. Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Augusta.

Barry Fleming, an attorney from Columbia County, was in Gainesville Monday.

Fleming is already enjoying support from party faithful and has amassed a war chest of more than half a million dollars. Broun, in the same reporting period that ended Dec. 31, had $250,000 on hand and showed $544,000 in debt.

"I watched the incumbent," Fleming said. "I examined the way he voted, acted and the things he was saying and thought that we could do better for conservative leadership in the 10th District."

Fleming takes issue in particular with Broun’s vote on an amendment to stop the U.S. Justice Department from prosecuting people who distribute medical marijuana in states where it is legal.

"There was another vote on the floor of the House for programs to help injured veterans who come back from Iraq get rehabilitation and back into society, and he (Broun) voted against it," Fleming said.

Fleming, who earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Georgia, said he supports the effort to locate a medical school in Athens and points to his efforts to fund a study for residency programs at Athens and Gainesville hospitals.

"North Georgia, the Athens and Gainesville area, is the ideal place to expand our medical college," he said. "I’m sure we’ll do it."

Fleming said, on the federal level, he wants to see congressional support to secure the U.S. borders from people attempting to enter the country illegally.

"If we can seal the borders, then we can build up a consensus of trust to do something about the problem we have internally," he said.

Fleming and his wife, Paige, live in his hometown of Harlem and have a 6-year-old son, Zach.

In addition to Fleming, Broun faces GOP opposition from State Sen. Nancy Shaefer, R-Turner-
ville, and Democrat Bobby Saxon of Nicholson.