Representative Linder’s 7th Congressional District covers Gwinnett County, and as a notable Republican it was quite an honor to have him as keynote speaker.  The speech he gave at this meeting started off fairly typically as the Congressman thanked the conservative activists in the room for their work on helping stop Cap and Trade legislation as well as their efforts to slow down, if not kill completely, a takeover of the US healthcare system.

But just a few minutes into his talk, Representative Linder, who is not known for short speeches, stunned the crowd by simply announcing that he will not be seeking reelection for the Congressional seat he has held since 1992. 

His announcement was greeted with silence, as the surprised crowd looked at one another to make sure they had heard the statement correctly.  With very little fanfare Representative Linder quickly ended his speech, paused for a single picture, and quietly left the event.   The following speakers had a difficult time keeping the audiences’ attention, and each one had to adlib a tribute to the retiring congressman – realizing that whatever they ended up saying could not help but be overshadowed by the morning’s unexpected news.