Woodall Describes Change in Congress as ‘Infectious’

In the last installment of our , Rep. Rob Woodall describes the change he has seen in Congress since his election.

In 2010, when Rep. John Linder announced his retirement from public office, a slew of candidates sought to replace the long-time congressman.

Rob Woodall, Linder’s chief of staff, was one of eight Republicans to enter the hotly contested race. After months of campaigning, the field was narrowed down to two when Woodall was forced into a runoff with former pastor and conservative radio talk show host Jody Hice after neither managed to secure enough votes to win the primary outright. The following month, Woodall won the Republican nomination with 56 percent of the vote district-wide and went on to defeat Democratic challenger Doug Heckman in November.

Though such a hard fought campaign might have left some candidates exhausted and perhaps dreading another grueling campaign season, Woodall says he enjoyed the competition.

“You’re either appointed or you’re elected,” he said. “If you don’t have a lot of competition, then you’re appointed and that’s not the same.”

According to Woodall, the fact that he emerged victorious over so much competition has benefited him in Washington.

“They know I beat eight other people and so they’re paying attention to what I have to say,” he said.

And Woodall has had a lot to say since going to D.C. He has emerged as one of the leaders in the budget process due to his . He also serves on the House Rules Committee and recently , a group comprised of conservative members of Congress dedicated to eliminating unnecessary laws. Woodall has also continued to push . The tax reform legislation now has 61 sponsors in the House and six in the Senate.

Woodall said his efforts have been aided in no small part by what he learned while serving as Linder’s chief of staff.

“It has been a wonderful experience to be able to bring the knowledge of how to make things happen and get things done and not have to lose all that time to orientation and combine that with all the new ideas that folks are coming to town with,” he said.

Woodall said he, along with the other freshmen members of Congress, ran for the right reasons.

“They don’t care if they win the next time,” he said. “You have a choice every day whether you’re going to do those things that will help you get elected or if you’re going to do those things that are the right thing to do.”

That spirit, according to Woodall, has created a noticeable change in the capital -- a change he described as inspiring.

“If you have been there before and you go there now, you will feel the difference in the hallways that folks are thinking ‘Fine, defeat me. Defeat me if you don’t like what I’m doing, but I heard what the voters said and I’m going to come up here and do it, spin it any way you want’,” he said. “That is an infectious change that is starting to affect some of the senior members of Congress in a good way and it gives me real hope about where we’re going from here.”

Woodall’s 7th District includes all of Barrow and Walton counties, most of Gwinnett County, and portions of Forsyth and Newton counties.