The special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t over yet.
The race for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District continues in a runoff between Democrat Sean Harris and Republican Clay Fuller.
ROME, Ga. — The parking lot outside Floyd County Elections and Voter Registration was crowded on April 1 as early voting continued in the runoff election to replace Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Voters lined up outside buildings as the city suffered a spring heat wave, and the lunch rush drew crowds to centers on the outskirts of town.
This is the second time Floyd County residents have come to vote in recent weeks. The first round of voting in the special election was held on March 10, with early voting taking place a few weeks earlier, with 17 candidates on the ballot.
Democrat Sean Harris received about 37% of the vote, but a number of Republican candidates competed against each other for MAGA ground, with Clay Fuller ultimately taking second place with about 34% of the vote.
Harris and Fuller will face off in a runoff on Tuesday, with the winner stepping into the seat left by Greene and immediately becoming an active lawmaker.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District grew accustomed to Greene and her big personality during her five years in office, outperforming Trump in the red-tinged district in 2020. She was as active on social media as she was in the House.
Will a Republican or Democratic successor bring similar attention to northwest Georgia?
Mr. Green ends up fulfilling big and controversial shoes
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the matriarch of the MAGA movement and seen as the president’s right-hand man in the 2024 campaign, resigned in January. She cited problems with the handling of the Epstein file and what she described as complete dysfunction in the nation’s government chambers.
The two had a public falling out, with the president giving her the nickname “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” and Greene said she and her family had been the victims of serious threats following Trump’s comments.
She continues to criticize the government on social media, including on X alone, which has 5.4 million followers.
On April 4, Greene shared an old tweet from President Trump in which he said in October 2019 during his first term that “going into the Middle East is the worst decision ever made.”
“This was one of the reasons so many of us supported Donald Trump. Where did this man go?” Greene wrote in the post. “Now he’s sending American troops into another Middle East war that will cost us trillions more precious lives. No wonder he turned his back on me as I fought to release the Epstein files. What makes a human change so much?”
It is notable that President Trump did not mention Greene in his February remarks at a steel manufacturer in Rome. In doing so, Trump used the opportunity to endorse Clay Fuller, a self-proclaimed “MAGA warrior,” for an open seat in the House of Representatives.
Fuller returns to unwavering support for Trump
If the same voters who voted March 10 again along party lines, Fuller is expected to win the House seat with a large majority. He far outperformed other Republicans in the race and attributed his success largely to Trump’s support.
“Besides all the people in this room who made this possible tonight, there’s one person in particular I have to thank,” Fuller said in an election night speech in Rome. “For those of you who are wondering how much President Donald J. Trump means to this country, to Georgia, and to the state of Georgia, you can look at the screen behind me and see what this man means to the people of this region, what he means to the people of this country, and what he means to the MAGA movement.”
Fuller has voiced support for the president on issues such as the Iran war and immigration practices, and has repeatedly said he would fight for Trump in Washington.
This is reminiscent of Greene’s early days in the political spotlight, when she was a constant supporter of the president’s every move, a message that resonated with MAGA voters in her district.
Barbara and Glenn Crocker, veterans from Floyd County, told USA TODAY on April 1 that they would have voted for any Republican who supported President Trump.
“I trust Trump,” Barbara told Fuller outside the polling place after voting early.
Doug Shields, another Fuller voter, said that having a “Trump endorsement” was enough to get him to vote, and that he might have voted differently if another Republican had put his Trump stamp on Fuller instead. When asked what issues are important to him in this election, he said, “I really don’t have an answer to that.”
One voter, Billy Morgan, said that while President Trump’s support made his decision easier on March 10, it played less of a role this time because he was disappointed with the president’s handling of Iran.
Asked if he supported Fuller’s strong support for attacking Iran, Morgan said: “I think they need to figure out what they’re going to do.” “I think they’re just doing things haphazardly, so they’re reacting without planning.”
It took one major conflict, the Epstein file, to separate Greene from Trump’s inner circle. If Mr. Fuller were to hitch a wagon to Mr. Trump’s horse, he could be just one step away from losing his MAGA base in Georgia’s 14th District and repeating Mr. Greene’s fate.
Other voters are ready for change, too.
Democratic voters said supporting Harris was an easy decision. He rose to prominence by playing against Green in the past and continues to deliver a consistent message year after year.
But both men agreed that Democrats have a messaging problem, especially in northwest Georgia, where they believe Democratic candidates could gain some support. They also said Harris could learn some important lessons from his former opponents.
“I think the Democratic Party has a really bad branding problem right now, and for some reason the conservative media has gone so crazy that they kind of have a monopoly on the media right now,” Ryan Ward, 24, who voted for Harris, told USA TODAY outside a polling place in Rome. Ward said Greene’s online personality and ability to control social media is something Democrats could employ.
“I’m not really into TikTok or anything like that, but I want to get to know and show more of their personalities. Not like almost a buttoned-up Chuck Schumer Establishment Democrat, just saying the right things, saying the right things about the polls, but just being kind of authentic,” Ward said. “And even if you say things that make people uncomfortable, I think people appreciate that these days. And, yeah, some kind of authenticity.”
Althea Kinnebrew said she is ready for a time when her representatives will once again represent not just the MAGA base, but all the people of Georgia’s 14th District. She criticized Mr. Fuller for failing to reach out to Democratic voters and for doing what Mr. Greene has already done.
“We need people with conviction, people with a pure heart who really want to serve people, and people who want to express that and be their own people. Represent people who need representation,” Kinnebrew told USA TODAY. “And it’s not about, ‘I’m going to ruin you because you look like this or because you’re in the other party,’ but speak up for everyone. Just stand up for what’s right for the people, because I think that’s so important. We the people.”
Eileen Wright covers Georgia politics as an Atlanta Connect reporter for USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. X Find her at @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
