The Georgia special election to replace ex-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in Congress will head to a runoff after none of the candidates in the crowded field Tuesday received a majority of voter support.
Democrat Shawn Harris, a veteran who served in Afghanistan as a combat infantry commander, was the top vote-getter in the nonpartisan “jungle-style” race to represent Georgia’s 14th Congressional District in Washington.
Harris, who lost to Greene in the 14th District in 2024, received about 37% of the vote and will square off against Republican Clay Fuller in the April 7 runoff.
“This is not about me,” Harris said after advancing. “This is about all the people here in northwest Georgia. This is a win for them, because, finally, northwest Georgia is saying, let’s give the leader in Congress.”
“Yes, we got to go to a runoff – that’s not a problem … I’m looking forward to actually winning here on April 7.”
Harris outraised every candidate in the field as of Feb. 18, with about $4.3 million raised and about $290,000 in the bank, according to the Associated Press.
Fuller, who was endorsed by President Trump, was the top-performing Republican in a race where several GOP candidates split the vote. The Air National Guard officer and district attorney received about 35% of the vote in the solidly red district.
“I’m proud to have kept my word to run on my record and vision for how I want to represent this district,” Fuller, who had pledged to run a “positive campaign,” wrote on X ahead of election day.
He added, “If I can’t win on my record then I don’t need to win. I’ve not paid for a single ad talking about a fellow Republican because that’s not how I wanted to compete.”
Fuller, who raised about $787,000 over the course of the campaign, had the second-largest war chest, with about $238,000 in the bank.
More than 20 candidates, including Democrats and third-party hopefuls, were on the ballot in the northwest Georgia district.
A handful of recent withdrawals trimmed the field of active contenders to 17 by election day.
Firebrand state Sen. Colton Moore garnered the second most votes among Republicans but fell short of advancing to the April 7 runoff.
Moore, a self-described “RINO Wrangler,” was infamously shoved to the ground and arrested in the Georgia House chamber last year after attempting to enter during Gov. Brian Kemp’s State of the State address.
A GOP firebrand, like Greene, Moore was previously barred from the chamber due to blistering 2024 remarks about late House Speaker David Ralston.
Moore received 11.6% of the vote Tuesday night.
Trump outperformed former Vice President Kamala Harris in the district by a massive 68%–31% margin in 2024.
The district borders Alabama and Tennessee and spans 10 counties, with Paulding being the most populous, followed by a portion of Cobb.
Greene, who had served in Congress since 2021, departed on Jan. 5 after a public falling out with Trump.
Greene’s shocking retirement announcement last November came after the president withdrew his “support and endorsement” of the then congresswoman after she broke with the administration in several areas, including by voicing support for an extension of Affordable Care Act healthcare subsidies and demanding the release of documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Her departure narrowed the GOP’s already slim majority in the House.
Greene did not make an endorsement in the race.
