Tuesday’s special election in northwest Georgia to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally-turned-critic who left her seat in Congress in January, will be another test of President Donald Trump’s power over the Republican Party.
Trump backed Clay Fuller, a former prosecutor and Air Force veteran, out of a group of almost 20 candidates. But Trump’s presidential seal of approval, which he gave last month during a visit to the district, hasn’t done much to thin the race.
The president’s decision to get involved in the Georgia race, which features several self-described MAGA candidates on the ballot, was intended to help avoid a runoff and quickly fill the seat. This would give Speaker Mike Johnson more breathing room in his tiny House Republican majority.
Fuller has said many times that he would be “a warrior for President Trump on Capitol Hill,” but other Republican candidates have also promised to fully support the president’s plans.
“There’s a lot of folks who talk a big conservative game, but when it comes down to doing conservative stuff, they’re nowhere to be found,” Moore said Monday in an interview on a conservative talk radio show on WLAQ, a station in the district based in Rome, Georgia. “We need to find a fighter, a legislator, who’s willing to bring that fight with true vigor.”
Tom Gray, a pastor who is also running to replace Greene, expressed his support for Trump but added, “We’re independent thinkers and decision-makers.”
“There’s a lot of folks who talk a big conservative game, but when it comes down to doing conservative stuff, they’re nowhere to be found,” Moore said Monday in an interview on a conservative talk radio show on WLAQ, a station in the district based in Rome, Georgia. “We need to find a fighter, a legislator, who’s willing to bring that fight with true vigor.”
BREAKING: President Trump Endorses Air National Guard Officer & Prosecutor Clay Fuller for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District – MTG’s Former Seat pic.twitter.com/NyDxq3yaCr
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) February 4, 2026
The 14th Congressional District is massive and covers 10 counties, from the suburbs of Atlanta to the Appalachian foothills along the Tennessee state line.
Despite being Trump’s stronghold, the 14th Congressional District is home to a significant number of Democrats and independents, which could potentially unsettle Republicans in a special election.
If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will go to an April runoff.
Shawn Harris, a retired Marine brigadier general who lost to Greene in 2024, is the Democratic candidate who worries Republicans the most. The last time he was on the ballot, he got almost 135,000 votes.
A small number of those votes would probably put him in a runoff. However, turnout on Tuesday is expected to be lower than it was in 2024.
Republican leaders think that Harris will probably be one of the top two finishers who move on to a runoff on April 7. No matter what happens in that election, candidates must run again for the seat this fall, starting with the primary on May 19. This will be a dizzying series of elections.
Some voters are upset about the fight between Trump and Greene, who used to be allies.
Greene hasn’t been involved in the race, but she hasn’t stopped criticizing Trump, most recently for his decision to attack Iran.
Moore, who has Trump’s backing, expressed his intention to join the House Freedom Caucus and combat “bad legislation” if elected.
But that’s exactly what worries Republican leaders in Congress, especially the speaker, who helped convince Trump to support Fuller over Moore or other candidates.
A top GOP aide told CNN that Republican leaders are looking for a reliable vote, not another troublemaker.
In the abbreviated two-month campaign, Fuller pledged to voters that he would “have President Trump’s back” on Capitol Hill and that he would remain supportive, a not-so-subtle reference to Greene.
“We have to support President Trump,” Fuller said. “He’s the greatest foreign policy president in our time. I’ll fight for him, and that’s why he endorsed me in this race.”
Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
