Northwest Georgia voters went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a replacement for former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene represented Georgia’s 14th congressional district for exactly five years before resigning in January after a heated and very public falling out with President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called for a special election on March 10, and there were 22 qualifying candidates, including 17 Republicans, three Democrats, a Libertarian, and an independent. Because the field was so fractured and because it was a jungle primary — all candidates from all parties were on the ballot together — everyone under the sun figured the race would lead to a runoff on April 7. Those predictions were correct. None of the candidates got 50% of the vote
Democrat Shawn Harris will face off against Republican Clay Fuller next month, according to Decision Desk HQ projection.
Decision Desk HQ projects Clayton Fuller and Shawn Harris to advance to a runoff in the special election for Georgia’s 14th congressional district.#DecisionMade: 8:03 pm ET
Follow live results here: https://t.co/14mFB2PJHs pic.twitter.com/BE1XD1flOl
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) March 11, 2026
Harris got the most votes. As I’m writing this on Tuesday night, he’s at 37.1% with 86% of the votes counted. So far, he’s received a total of 36,545 votes. Fuller is right behind him with 35.3% or 34,729. It doesn’t look like that margin will change too much.
The good news for Fuller is that a lot of the other Republican candidates’ voters will potentially show up for him when April rolls around. For example, former state senator Colton Moore received over 12% of the vote, and former Paulding County commissioner Brian Stover received just under 5%. Traditionally, Georgia’s 14th is deep, deep red, and that’s not expected to change (though as someone who lives just on the outskirts and has many friends there, I’ll say that this race has been pretty heated).
Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, is also calling for Republicans to unite and send Fuller to Washington, D.C.
Congratulations to Clay Fuller! When I appointed Clay as District Attorney, I was confident that he would be a fearless advocate for the rule of law in our state.
As we head into the runoff election, Republicans must be united and send this proven, conservative fighter to… https://t.co/RXlRAmHarV
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) March 11, 2026
Fuller, who primaried against Marjorie Taylor Greene in 2020 and came in fourth place, emerged as a frontrunner in the race after Donald Trump endorsed him earlier this year. He’s the district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, and he’s a constitutional conservative who has a record for being tough on crime. Here’s more on his professional, educational, and military background:
He secured convictions in numerous jury trials, including murder, rape, and armed robbery—resulting in life sentences for the perpetrators. In addition, he has argued criminal cases before the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Clay is also a Lt Col and a Deputy Staff Judge Advocate in the Air National Guard, where he has been rated the #1 mid-career officer by his Wing leadership, and has earned the Air Force Commendation and Meritorious Service Medals.
From 2018-2019, Clay was one of fourteen Americans appointed by President Trump to serve as a White House Fellow. During that time, he served in both the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Defense and advised on the response to the opioid crisis as well as improving processes that impact POW/MIA families. He also assisted senior Pentagon and National Security Council leaders with oversight of the worldwide employment of special operations forces in counterterrorism.
From May to November 2024, Clay was deployed as the legal advisor to the Combined Air Operations Center at Shaw Air Force Base and Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command operations in the Middle East and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Raised in the North Georgia mountains, Clay Fuller was captain of the basketball team at Emory University and graduated with a B.A. in English before earning an M.P.A. from Cornell University and a Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University. He is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force’s Officer Training School and a graduate of the Marine Expeditionary Warfare School. He earned a Master’s Degree in Military Operational Art and Science with a Joint Warfare Concentration from the Air Command and Staff College in Montgomery, Alabama.
He’s also married with two children.
Clay Fuller gets a hug from his wife, Kate, as early returns suggest he is headed to the runoff in the race to succeed former Rep. MTG pic.twitter.com/hDcPV2BVsW
— Tia Mitchell, AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief (@ajconwashington) March 11, 2026
Another reason that it’s important for Republicans to unite behind Fuller is that the Democrat, Harris, isn’t one to sleep on — he was MTG’s opponent in 2024, and he secured more of the vote than any other Democrat in the district’s history. He’s a retired U.S. Army brigadier general, and he’s called this election a “once in a generation” opportunity to flip the seat to blue. He campaigns on affordability and being a political outsider. During his campaign, he raised a lot more money than any of the Republicans, though, to be fair, he started before MTG announced her resignation because he had plans to run against her again.
Many in the media are still calling this a test of whether Trump’s endorsement means anything, and some are already saying on Tuesday night that the fact that Fuller didn’t win outright is a sign that it doesn’t. But given the size of the field, I think the real test will be what the numbers look like in April.
Want to support conservative media? You can do so by becoming a PJ Media VIP member. It’s less than $20 for the entire year, and you get some cool perks too. We can’t wait to have you!
