Couvillon challenges fellow Republican Clyde in 9th District

When it comes to the issues facing Georgia’s 9th District Congressional representative, Sam Couvillon doesn’t differ at all from the incumbent, Andrew Clyde, or from general Republican principles.  He’s ardently pro-gun rights, tough on immigration and on the federal budget, and ardently anti-abortion (though he considers that a state issue).

But when it comes to how he’ll represent the district if elected, Couvillon says he’ll be a very different kind of Congressman.

The primary, in which Clyde, Couvillon, and a third Republican candidate, Gregg Poole, will face off, is slated for Tuesday, May 19th. Early voting will take place from April 27th to May 15th, including two Saturdays.

Two Democrats—Nick Alex and Caitlin Gegen–are also vying for the Congressional nod on the same dates.

The Mayor You Could Call

As Gainesville mayor for four years, Couvillon said he made a point of being highly responsive and available to his constituents; he often answered his own phone, finding a concerned Gainesville resident on the other end with a problem for him to solve.

But as a mayor and constituent of Clyde, he placed himself among many who he said had reached out to the incumbent Congressman, Clyde, on behalf of his own constituents from the district’s largest city, often with disappointing results.

In 2021, Couvillon says, “we needed to get the main post office moved; it’s a 1967 building, and it sits in the middle of the town. Traffic was a mess. We needed to move that.”

Couvillon met with Clyde, but…” I never heard anything at all.”

Now, out in the 12 counties of the district where he’s been campaigning to replace Clyde, Couvillon says, he hears similar stories of non-responsiveness about the incumbent.

Constituent Needs Ignored by Clyde, Couvillon Says

For example, Stephens County Hospital in Toccoa badly needed to update its operating rooms. “They needed $1 million,” Couvillon says, “but Clyde didn’t respond, and didn’t help.  [Georgia Democratic Senator] Raphael Warnock got that $1 million delivered.”

Elsewhere, another county official sought $250,000 for a new fire truck to serve the entire community for both fires and emergency medical transport.

“The Congressman told us that’s not in his purview,’” Couvillon quoted the county official.  “[Democratic Senator] Jon Ossoff got that firetruck for them.”

Couvillon says, if elected, he will make constituent service, approachability, and ongoing dialogue a central element of his office’s efforts, recognizing that different parts of the district might have widely varying needs.

“This county is so diverse,” he said. “I think it’s important not to try to find one issue in the district, but to work with each county and municipality, and to try to identify their needs”—a hospital in one place, a domestic violence shelter in a second, a wastewater treatment plan in a third, and agricultural support in a fourth.

“I don’t want to spend willy-nilly, but if you’re a farmer who suffered financial devastation in a natural disaster, through no fault of [your] own,” Couvillon wants to help, he says.

‘No’ to the South Georgia Farmers

When it came to Hurricane Helene in September 2024,” our congressman turned his back on the farmers,” voting against federal funds to compensate them—mostly in the southern part of the state–whose farms and revenue were destroyed.

“How do you think those areas are going to respond when we need something?” Couvillon asked.

A call to Clyde’s campaign office on Tuesday, seeking comment on some of Couvillon’s criticisms, had not been returned at press time.

Couvillon hearkens back to Doug Collins, Clyde’s predecessor, as “a responsive and respected congressman.”

“He helped us with police video” in Gainesville, the candidate said. “We needed new hardware, because what we had would only save the video for 48 hours.  If people had a complaint, it was often more than two days after an incident. He helped with stuff like that.”

And even when Collins said “no” to a request, Couvillon says, at least he answered. “The point is, he was responsive.”

Couvillon, 55, has been in the insurance business throughout his government service as mayor and councilman in Gainesville, but he is critical of some aspects of the nation’s insurance establishment.

He would like the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, which relies on the health insurance business and indirectly subsidizes it, to be replaced with government support directly to healthcare consumers. He called the existing system “a disaster” that enriches bureaucrats and the insurance industry but makes healthcare unaffordable to middle- and lower-income patients.

Endorsements from Public Figures

Couvillon, noting endorsements are hard to come by when one “primaries” an incumbent, but pointed proudly to two public figures who have stepped forward—former Gov. Nathan Deal, who was a congressman from 2003 to 2010, representing the 9th and 10th districts, and served as governor from 2011 to 2019.

Rabun County Sheriff Mark Gerrells has also stepped forward in support, Couvillon said.

Neither Deal nor Gerrells was available to confirm their endorsements at press time.

Couvillon did identify a single area in which he wasn’t totally on President Trump’s page; he said that if he’d been consulted, he would have advised the administration not to go to war with Iran in February. “But now that we’re in it, I support our troops and what we’re trying to do,” he added.

In what remains of his spare time, Couvillon enjoys spending time with his wife, his two grown daughters—both living in Raleigh, N.C.–friends, mentoring young people, playing golf, and watching University of Georgia football.  He characterized the campaign trail as all-consuming, yet often rewarding.

“At times, I go into a meeting, and people say, ‘Hey, you’re running against the incumbent; it’s going to be tough.’ And I talk, and by the time I leave, they’re picking up my signs, they’re taking my material, I’m getting commitments: ‘Hey, I’m going to support you.’”