The biggest casualties in next year's race to replace Rep. Mac Collins

in Congress may be shoe leather and dollar bills.

Although the primary is still eight months away, the three announced candidates

for the 8th District seat are already burning up the roadways in this

super-sized 18-county district. State Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Sharpsburg,

state Sen. Mike Crotts of McDonough and Dylan Glenn of Columbus -

all Republicans - have been hitting every hamlet in the region trying

to get their message to the masses. The district stretches from the southern

suburbs of Atlanta, down to Macon and over to Columbus.

Political observers around the state are saying this could be one of the

most expensive races, with some cost estimates pegged at $1.5 million

for each candidate.

From the cattle kings in Carroll County to the airline pilots in Fayette,

the candidates are getting the message from the people that the economy

needs to be improved.

The most familiar of the candidates to Fayette's residents is Westmoreland.

Westmoreland's political career started in 1988 when he ran for State

Senate. In 1992 he was elected State Representative of the 104th district,

which included parts of Fayette and Coweta counties. He has been reelected

six times as a state representative.

He was elected by his peers in the House Republican Caucus as their Leader

in November of 2000. He now serves on the Appropriations, Legislative

Services, Reapportionment, and Rules Committees.

According to his Web site, the Westmorelands moved to Fayette County in

1976 , where he started a building company, L.A.W. Builders. During his

work in the construction industry, Rep. he has worked in all aspects of

the trade, including commercial and residential construction, land development,

and served as a construction consultant for various governmental agencies.

He now serves on the Appropriations, Legislative Services, Reapportionment,

and Rules Committees.

Westmoreland also serves on the Christian City Advisory Board, the Safe

Kids Council for Coweta and Fayette counties, and the Stakeholder's

Advisory Committee for Kennesaw State University and is a member of the

Midwest Georgia Homebuilder's Association, his Web site states. He

and his wife Joan have three children and two granddaughters, according

to his Web site.

He's already put hundreds of miles on his car and believes the economy

is going to be the key issue in next year's elections. Wesmoreland

has always been a believer in smaller government and hopes he can carry

that message to Congress.

"I've been representing Coweta and Fayette counties for the

last year, and travelling the congressional district shows me how many

interests are represented," he said.

Westmoreland has already raised more than $400,000 for his campaign and

picked up the endorsement of Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Over in McDonough, Crotts is already anticipating a huge bill for shoes

during the campaign.

"The last campaign, I went through 10 or 12 pair, and I'll probably

go through more than that this time," he said.

According to his Web site, Crotts was born in Atlanta and was educated

in the Atlanta Public Schools. After completing his education, he enlisted

and served in the United States Coast Guard during the Viet Nam War era.

His father, Dallas T. Crotts, was an entrepreneur who got his start in

business by selling newspapers on the streets of Atlanta as a young boy.

In 1960, Crotts' father founded Crotts Realty and Insurance Company.

The younger Crotts followed in his father's footsteps and entered

the real estate business while he was still in high school. In his junior

year, he passed the Georgia Real Estate salesman's exam. Then, as

a senior, he took the brokers exam and became the youngest real estate

broker in the state of Georgia, a record that still stands today.

In 1973, he purchased the company from his father and has built it into

one of the most progressive privately owned commercial real estate operations

in the Southeast. He has an associate degree in distributive education

from DeKalb College. He and his wife Phyllis have been married 32 years

and have one teenage son. Both are ordained deacons at Chapel Hill Harvester

Church.

He is the ranking Republican in the Senate and was first elected to the

Georgia Senate in November of 1992 and now represents the newly reapportioned

17 th district. This district includes portions of Butts, Fayette, Henry,

Jasper, Jones, Newton, Rockdale, Spalding, Walton and Putnam.

Crotts is also a big believer in local government and would like to see

Congress quit sending so many unfunded mandates to the local politicians.

He believes in the "personal touch" and plans to meet as many

of the constituents in the district as possible during the next few months.

Down in Columbus, Dylan Glenn made headlines recently when he announced

that nationally known Bo Callaway would be his honorary campaign chairman.

Callaway is a lifelong resident of the district and has had a long and

storied career in Georgia politics. He is a former Congressman and was

the 1966 Republican nominee for governor and also as Secretary of the

Army during the Richard Nixon administration.

Glenn's biography on his Web site shows his interest in politics

from a young age.

Following his graduation from college, Glenn worked in Washington, D.C.,

in public relations and political consulting. He was one of the founders

of The Earth Conservation Corps, a White House initiative under President

George H. W. Bush. In 1996, he was a traveling press aide to Republican

vice-presidential nominee Jack Kemp. He was Special Advisor to the Commission

on Minority Business Development and was actively involved with GOPAC

and the Republican National Committee. He also served as an advisor to

the Chairman of Republican National Conventions in 1992 and 1996. He returned

to Georgia in 1997 and was a candidate for Congress in the Second Congressional

District. As his party's nominee in 2000, he received the highest

number of votes ever cast for a Republican in this southwest Georgia district.

Dylan was founder and director of the South Georgia Economic Development

Corporation, formed to assist economic growth in the poorest part of his

state. In that capacity, he was involved with educational reform and was

a major player in bringing innovative programs into several school systems

in South Georgia. Dylan was sworn in as deputy chief of staff to Governor

Sonny Perdue on Inauguration Day, 2003. Glenn's portfolio included

all external affairs for the first Republican governor in this state since

Reconstruction.

"It's going to be a challenge running this campaign in three

major media markets, but I'm getting the message that the economy

needs to get going," Glenn said.

Other concerns that Glenn has encountered on the campaign trail include

constituients concerns about terrorism and the war in Irag, but he believes

the country is on the right track for winning both wars.

Throughout the long campaign, the Citizen will provide periodic updates

as the candidates close in on becoming Fayette's newest Congressman.