user: ### NOW ANSWER:
Question: How many candidates ran in the race where the incumbent is J. L. Pilcher?
Columns: ['District', 'Incumbent', 'Party', 'First elected', 'Result', 'Candidates']
Types: ['text', 'text', 'text', 'real', 'text', 'text']
Sample row: ['Georgia 1', 'Prince Hulon Preston, Jr.', 'Democratic', 1946.0, 'Re-elected', 'Prince Hulon Preston, Jr. (D) 83.7% Others 16.3%']
SQL:

assistant: SELECT COUNT("Candidates") FROM "Table" WHERE "Incumbent" = 'J. L. Pilcher';