Martha Zoller leaving her WDUN daily show following heart attack

Political strategist Martha Zoller announced that she is leaving her daily talk show on Gainesville news/talk station 102.9/550 WDUN June 26 following what she calls a “stress-related heart attack.”

“I’m leaving on my own terms,” Zoller, 67, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I can now do what I want to do when I want to do it. I feel good about it.”

Zoller, who has had a 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. show on WDUN since 2019, said her final day on air will be June 26.

She compared her future role on WDUN to that of Steve Doocy on “Fox & Friends,” an emeritus role that may mean occasional drop-ins and perhaps a regular “Martha Zoller minute” commentary.

“I’m stepping away from this career but I’m still passionate about what I’m passionate about,” she said on air Wednesday. “This has been an opportunity to have the career I could never have dreamed of right here in my hometown while raising my family. It was the most wonderful gift I could ever have.”

One day in February, she ironically had a thoracic surgeon on her radio show to talk about women’s heart health. At 12:30 p.m. after her show, while at church, she felt chest pains and her arms began to tingle. She instantly knew she was having heart trouble: “For a couple of seconds, I thought, ‘I’m never going to talk to my husband again. I’m never going to talk to my kids.’”

Fortunately, she was able to get an ambulance and get treated quickly. Even better, her type of heart attack didn’t cause permanent damage. But when the doctors told her it may have been connected to stress, she decided it was time to make a major pivot.

Over a meal at Taqueria Tsunami, Zoller told her boss Bill Maine, who has been at WDUN since 1980, she needed to stop doing a daily show.

“I can’t control that stress,” Zoller said. “I can control being at the radio station every day.”

Maine said he is glad Zoller will still be around, even if not every day.

“I’m happy for her,” he said. “It’s a challenge for us. That’s a big hole to fill. She’s taken us to the Middle East. She’s taken us to D.C. and the Gold Dome many times. It’s fascinating how well-connected she is. She has this amazing connection to our listeners and access to leaders they’d never hear from otherwise.”

Maine said Zoller has also connected with fans because of her conversational style: “She just talks one-on-one with her listeners. She doesn’t talk down to them.”

Martha Zoller, candidate for the 9th congressional seat, shakes hands with Terry Dawson while his wife Marie Dawson looks on. Zoller was working the crowd for votes at the Dahlonega-Lumpkin Chamber After Hours event on Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. (AJC FILE)

Bill Crane, a fellow political strategist who regularly appears on WSB-TV who has known Zoller for decades, noted that there are very few women in the news/talk radio world who have Zoller’s staying power.

“She is a devout Christian and conservative but does not wear her faith on her sleeve,” Crane said. “She has a great of empathy for friends and political opponents alike.”

Zoller first worked 15 years at WDUN from 1994 to 2009, then left to work at a station in Athens, then with Sen. David Perdue and Gov. Brian Kemp before returning to WDUN in 2019.

She also ran for the 9th District Congressional House seat in 2012, losing to Doug Collins in the Republican primary.