Georgia voters are choosing a successor to Marjorie Taylor Greene in US House
ROME, Ga. (AP) — Months after Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress after a falling-out with President Donald Trump, voters in her Georgia district voted for her successor in a special election Tuesday.
With top candidates including Republicans Clay Fuller and Colton Moore and Democrat Shawn Harris, this round of voting that ended Tuesday could be only the first step in an elections marathon in northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
Fuller, a district attorney endorsed by Trump, is hoping to avoid an April 7 runoff, which would be necessary if no candidate wins a majority of votes in the district that stretches across 10 counties from suburban Atlanta to the Tennessee state line.
“We need to win this thing on March 10 and send an America First warrior to fight for President Trump,” Fuller told a crowd in Rome, Georgia, on Feb. 19 before a speech by Trump.
But with 12 Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian and an independent running in the all-party special election, that may be difficult, even after five Republicans withdrew.
The winner will serve out the remaining months of Greene’s term. But if they want to remain in Congress beyond next January, they will have to run again. Republicans and Democrats seeking a full two-year term are set for a May 19 party primary, and possibly a June 16 party runoff, before advancing to the general election in November.
Last week, 10 Republicans and Harris qualified to run in November’s election for a full two-year term. That includes Fuller, as well as Moore, a former state senator and favorite of far-right activists who drew attention for a vociferous attack on Trump’s prosecution in Georgia for alleged election interference.
Harris, a cattle farmer and retired general, promises moderation and a focus on the district’s problems. However, a Democrat is unlikely to prevail in the 14th District, which is rated as the most Republican-leaning district in Georgia by the Cook Political Report.
For some, support for Trump hasn’t wavered. Presley Stover of Dallas, Georgia, voted for Fuller. She said she doesn’t agree with the president on everything, but supports him on the whole.
“I think as of right now, he’s doing a great job,” she said. “He’s definitely helping us a lot more than Biden did. I mean, as of now, they’re not the best, but you’re not gonna change anything overnight.”
Some Republicans, though, were unaffected by Trump’s nod.
“God, no. That’s not going to sway me one way or the other,” said Brendon O’Laughlin of Dallas, noting he voted for Brian Stover, a Republican from his area. O’Laughlin said he was looking for a change in style from Greene.
Those who backed Democrats said they were repelled by Trump and eager to reduce his power.
“There just needs to be checks and balances and I don’t think we have many of those right now,” said Matthew Wisniewski, a Dallas resident who voted for Harris.
But voters on a whole in the district embraced Greene’s hard-right campaign in 2020, when she parachuted into the district after aborting a campaign in a more closely contested district closer to Atlanta.
Greene was one of the most well-known members of Congress until she left in January. She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, promoting Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
But Greene began clashing with Trump last year after he and other Republicans pushed back against her running for U.S. Senate or governor. Greene criticized Trump’s foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.
Returning another Republican to Congress would bolster the party’s narrow majority in the House. Republicans currently control 218 House seats to Democrats’ 214.
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Associated Press journalist Emilie Megnien contributed to this report.