The contest to become Georgia’s next 9th District representative in the U.S. House seems to be ending not with a bang but a whimper.

Since the end of a runoff election to choose which of the hopefuls would finish out the final months of Nathan Deal’s term in the House, little has been said about the race for the full term beginning in January.

The winner of Tuesday’s primary will likely decide who will take the seat over for two years in January. There are no Democrats seeking the seat,  and no independent candidates have yet qualified.

Tom Graves, who bested former state Sen. Lee Hawkins in a runoff by 13 percentage points in June, this week made the rounds of what is currently his district, assembling a group comprised of business leaders from across the 15-county district he says will consult with him on economic issues in Congress.

In the meantime, Hawkins reasserted his viability as a contender in the election for the full term.

In an e-mail to supporters last week titled “I AM IN IT TO WIN IT!”, the Gainesville dentist said his campaign had experienced a “groundswell in excitement and support.”

The race itself hasn’t seen the same groundswell, however.

“I’m just not aware of any controversy or event or new issue that’s come on the radar screen in this race since the runoff,” said political scientist Douglas Young.

In late June, the race saw a little excitement as Hawkins attacked Graves for failing to file personal financial reports on time.

Graves’ campaign responded that the reports were only overdue because Graves had not been aware of a need to file. The reports are now filed.

But the race is much quieter days before the primary than when it got its start last year.

When Deal announced a bid for governor last May, hopefuls lined up by the conservative truckload to succeed him. Even a Democrat joined in on the campaign.

Deal’s announcement of an early resignation in March of this year resulted in a special election that whittled down the field of candidates to four serious Republicans.

Shortly after the returns from May’s special election were counted, Republicans Bert Loftman and Bill Stephens announced they would not be moving on to the primary. Democrat Mike Freeman never qualified for the primary.

Another Republican, Blairsville cardiologist Chris Cates, says he has stopped actively campaigning for the position, but his name, along with Loftman and Stephens, still appears on Tuesday’s ballot.

Left standing from that race is Steve Tarvin, a Chickamauga businessman who got more than 15 percent of the vote in May’s special election.

And after all the repetition in the 9th District race, state Rep. Bobby Reese will be a new name on the ballot.

Reese, of Sugar Hill, did not participate in the special election, but he’s been a mainstay at candidate events around the district for several months. Reports he filed with the Federal Election Commission show he’s paid more than $11,000 to Washington Political Group for campaign consulting, polling and recorded messages.

But Young, a political science professor at Gainesville State College, said though there may be a different name, the results might be much the same as in May and June.

And Graves’ position as an incumbent in what is still a somewhat crowded race will work to Graves’ advantage, Young said.

“Republicans and the more conservative lot of voters tend to have more of a bias for the incumbent,” said Young. “...I think there’s just a real tradition in the Republican Party, rightly or wrongly, wisely or unwisely, to defer to the establishment.”