Shawn Harris, a Democrat and retired U.S. Army officer, and Clayton Fuller, a Republican endorsed by President Trump, were the lead vote-getters in a special election in Georgia on Tuesday to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican firebrand who left Congress in January, according to The Associated Press.
Because neither captured a majority of the votes cast, Mr. Harris and Mr. Fuller will advance to an April 7 runoff. Mr. Fuller’s performance ahead of a more MAGA-adjacent rival, Colton Moore, boosted Mr. Trump’s endorsement record this midterm cycle.
The first-round win may deliver a jolt of confidence for Mr. Harris and his fellow Democrats in Ms. Greene’s former district, which covers a chunk of northwest Georgia and is among the most conservative districts in the state.
Winning the runoff will be considerably more difficult. The ballot on Tuesday allowed voters to choose among 17 candidates: 12 Republicans, three Democrats, an independent and a libertarian. Mr. Harris was by far the best known Democrat, having competed against Ms. Greene in the 2024 general election.
Now Mr. Harris will face off against Mr. Fuller, a former state prosecutor. In the runoff, Mr. Fuller will have to consolidate conservatives, whose votes were cast across the range of first-round Republican candidates, among them Mr. Moore, an auctioneer, a dump truck driver and a former state senator whose penchant for political spectacle made him the closest stylistic fit to Ms. Greene.
Ms. Greene was elected in 2020 and positioned herself as a die-hard Trump supporter until a series of recent ruptures with the president on a variety of issues, including her desire to compel the Justice Department to release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender.
Mr. Moore’s reputation as a conservative firebrand in the mold of Ms. Greene appeared to hold less sway with voters than Mr. Trump’s nod.
The endorsement of Mr. Fuller may have reflected electoral math. In a tight race for the House this year, Democrats are targeting a number of hard-right Republicans who have emulated aspects of Ms. Greene’s style — among them Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee (who made waves with his Christmas card, which featured his heavily armed family) and Representative Anna Paulina Luna of Florida (who sponsored the bill to add Mr. Trump’s likeness on Mount Rushmore).
The importance of the special election to Mr. Trump was underscored by his visit to the district in February. There, at a rally, he promoted both his economic plan and Mr. Fuller.
Mr. Harris, a moderate Democrat, focused his campaign on issues like affordability and health care in a district with many working- and middle-class voters spread among rural stretches of Appalachia and the growing suburbs to the west of Atlanta.
Whoever wins the April election will serve until the end of Ms. Greene’s term in January 2027.
The winner — and presumably other candidates — will be on the ballot again in May for the regular statewide primary races, which determine who will be on the ballot for the general election in November.
Richard Fausset, a Times reporter based in Atlanta, writes about the American South, focusing on politics, culture, race, poverty and criminal justice.
The post In Marjorie Taylor Greene’s District, a Trump-Backed Candidate Advances appeared first on New York Times.
