Dear readers, the following dispatch comes from our AJC colleague Jeremy Redmon:
It didn't take long for Barry Loudermilk and former Rep. Bob Barr to chat as returns in their runoff race started rolling in. Loudermilk handily defeated the ex-congressman to win his party's nod for the 11th District.
"You rascal, you whupped me," was Loudermilk's recollection of Barr's opening line during what he described as a short and cordial conversation.
"If I put myself in his shoes," Loudermilk said. "I don't know what I would say other than just, 'Hey, congratulations, you won.' But I do appreciate him calling because in the primary I only received one phone call. So I appreciate him doing that."
Barr, for his part, pledged to offer his aid to the former state senator, who faces no Democrat opponent and is soon headed to Washington. The former four-term congressman and ex-Libertarian presidential candidate also said he doesn't intend to run for public office again.
"I have absolutely no plans in that regard, whatsoever," he said.
Did he at least have some fun getting back on the campaign trail this year?
"It was very enjoyable," he said. "I met a lot of new people and reconnected with a lot of folks I had worked with over the years in the Republican Party."
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