FLOWERY BRANCH — This election cycle seems to have piqued the interest of local Republicans early, and a number of them cite the presidential election as the reason.And while their desire to have a Republican commander in chief is almost palpable, they aren’t discounting local elections.Nearly 100 people crammed into the Spout Springs library’s meeting room Tuesday night to hear what some 20 aspiring elected Republican officials had to say.The day before, some 85 people pushed their way into an upstairs room at a Cleveland branch of Community Bank & Trust to see one of the first debates of the 9th District congressional race.And over the weekend, some 500 Republicans met in Jefferson to rally the base for the coming election cycle.Flowery Branch resident Ann Boles came to Tuesday’s event, sponsored by the South Hall Republican Club, more than a month ahead of the date candidates must qualify for their prospective races.She said it seemed to be the only way to learn about the candidates this early in the game.“My husband and I vote early every year, and the paper hardly gets somebody in there in time for us to know anything about them before we vote,” Boles said. “I thought this would be a wonderful chance to come and see who everybody is.”Sid Rodrigue, also from Flowery Branch, said he’s showed up to as many of the South Hall Republican Club meetings as he could lately, hoping to meet with as many candidates as he can before Election Day. “So much corruption has been introduced on all levels — county level, state level and particularly the federal level — and we see that very much with our current president,” said Rodrigue.Hunter Jones and Nash Blun, some of the youngest members of the Republican Club’s audience Tuesday, said that this year’s election was especially important to Republicans, who are galvanized by their desire to oust President Barack Obama, a Democrat.“Every time a candidate — it doesn’t matter where they are, even at this local level — they mention Obama, and they’re going to get an ovation,” Blun said.