Rep.-elect Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.-09)

Date of birth: Nov. 22, 1963
Residence: Athens, Ga.
Occupation: firearms supply company CEO
Education: B.A., Bethel College; M.A., University of Georgia
Family: wife, Jennifer

Andrew Clyde is headed to Congress after winning the Republican stronghold of Georgia’s 9th Congressional District over Democratic nominee Devin Pandy. The district’s current congressman, Rep. Doug Collins (R), opted for a failed bid for Georgia’s Senate seat rather than seek reelection.

Clyde is a retired Naval officer who was deployed three times to Kuwait and Iraq, during which he earned numerous commendations including a Defense Meritorious Service Medal. After retiring from the armed services, Clyde founded a firearms business, Clyde Armory, that grew from his garage to a company with two locations in Georgia and businesses across the country. He also serves as deacon of the Prince Avenue Baptist Church.

A first timer in politics, Clyde came in second in a crowded Republican primary for the 9th District in June but defeated the first-place finisher from that contest, a member of Georgia’s state legislature, by more than 10 points in a runoff two months later.

– John Bowden