Does Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Old District Want to Do All That Again?

Georgia Republicans say that the upcoming special election to replace Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress could indicate whether the party has the appetite for less headline-grabbing candidates.

Republicans, including some of the candidates running in the race, say the outcome could be a key insight for their party ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think it’s going to outline if the Republican Party is still leaning more towards candidates who are like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who tend to be like the more argumentative, loud boisterous personalities,” Jenna Turnipseed, a candidate who is running for the seat, told NOTUS.

“Or are they looking for a candidate that is more about trying to actually work and make a shift? And I think that this is going to kind of outline how people see the Republican Party in the future as well.”

The heavily Republican 14th Congressional District covers Atlanta’s northwest suburbs and stretches toward Chattanooga, Tennessee. And a whopping 17 Republicans have qualified to run for Greene’s vacant seat ahead of the March 10 special election, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office. Voters will decide between them and candidates of other parties on the same ballot to pick who will finish out Greene’s term.

The candidates running in the race run the gamut. But if none of them can win the race outright with more than 50% of the vote, it’ll head to a runoff election in April between the two candidates with the most votes.

Christian Hurd, another candidate in the race, called Greene “the best politician to ever come out of North Georgia.” While he believes the state’s jungle special election is a “disaster,” he’s happy to have a “diversity of opinions” in the race.

“It will set the pace for the midterms,” Hurd told NOTUS about the special election. “That’s why it’s important we select the right Republican. We cannot select a weak Republican. We cannot go down the path of smoke and mirrors. We can’t go down the path of empty suits. We got to select a man, a candidate, that is going to get the job done again.”

Brian Robinson, a Georgia Republican strategist who is not working on the race, told NOTUS Greene’s five-year hold on the seat doesn’t mean other types of Republicans can’t win it.

“There’s nothing in this district that suggests it’s particularly prone to having a bombastic headline grabber. This district was represented in the past by very low-key members,” Robinson said. “So I think Marjorie Taylor Greene captured a moment in time during a really weird part of American history in 2020.”

While the congressional district is heavily Republican, it’s not lost on the party that the race will play out in a state known for its status as a political battleground. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is up for reelection in November in one of the most competitive Senate races of the cycle. And the race to replace outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp this year is also expected to be competitive.

Georgia Republican Rep. Rich McCormick told NOTUS that he expects Georgia to be “a tough fight for years to come” for his party, adding that he’d like to see a candidate who has wide appeal win Greene’s old district, someone who’s a “team player” and can “grow the party.”

“I want somebody who can appeal to the masses, somebody who understands what this race is all about,” McCormick said. “Especially in a time where I think the Democrats have lost their way, this is the perfect time to appeal to minorities and people, maybe, who haven’t considered the Republican Party for a very long time as the answer to their children’s future.”

Turnipseed and Hurd are both veterans, but there’s a large mix of experience and background in the race. Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller, a well-known, self-described “America First Prosecutor” who is campaigning on supporting Trump’s deportation efforts, for example, is also running.

Several of the candidates in the race are grappling with Greene’s legacy, picking and choosing in their campaign rhetoric how to size up their record and positions against hers.

Jim Tully, a former staffer for Greene, is running for the seat without mentioning his connection to her on his campaign page.

Tully, who emphasized his desire to revamp the country’s education system, told NOTUS that his time working in the House gives him an advantage over his opponents. However, his race is all “about the people.”

“Marjorie resigned and left us in a position,” Tully said, adding that he hadn’t spoken with Greene about his campaign. “It’s about the people, not yesterday. It’s about right now and tomorrow. And that’s what we’re conveying.”

Other first-time candidates include Nicky Lama, a former member of the Dalton City Council, and Brian Stover, who served five years on the Paulding County Board of Commissioners. Eric Cunningham, who previously challenged Greene in 2022 but received few votes, has also entered the race.

One candidate who seemingly shares Greene’s attention-grabbing ability is former state Sen. Colton Moore. He was removed from the state’s Republican Senate Caucus for criticizing his colleagues for not calling a special session to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for indicting President Donald Trump. Trump thanked Moore for his efforts in a video posted to Trump’s social media account in August 2023.

“Few people have put out as many campaign signs for Marjorie Taylor Greene as I have. And I’m frankly just very disappointed that it all ended up the way it did,” Moore told NOTUS. “I wish her and President Trump could have gotten along a little better.”

The White House did not comment on whether the president would endorse in the race. The National Republican Congressional Committee declined to comment on the special election.

Star Black, another Republican campaigning for the seat who worked at the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 28 years, told NOTUS that Republicans across the country will be watching to see if another “headline grabber” and “celebrity politician” is able to win the seat.

“One thing that Marjorie was very good about doing was she called attention to Georgia, and she did call out things that were wrong,” Black said. “Where her and I differ is, not only will I call out things that are wrong, but I will also have a plan on how to fix that. And that is an area that Marjorie was lacking.”

Greene, who did not respond to a request for comment, was first elected to the House in 2020, and for much of her tenure was one of Trump’s closest allies. After arriving on the Hill, she was chided by Democrats for her promotion of conspiracy theories and violence. They removed her from her committee assignments during her first term in response, in part, to her past racist and anti-semitic comments. Greene’s national profile only grew: She was among the top five fundraisers in her party from 2021 to 2022 out of all House members seeking reelection, according to OpenSecrets.

Her relationship with Trump began to unravel last year, with the two disagreeing over whether files related to Jeffrey Epstein should be released. Following the public feud and criticism from the president, Greene ultimately decided to resign from the House in January.

Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia, told NOTUS that he doesn’t think voters in the district would want to see a candidate who drifts far from Greene’s behavior.

“She had no trouble getting elected to her second and third terms. … Her high-profile behavior seemed to serve her well,” Bullock said. “There didn’t seem like there was any pushback from any sizable share of the electorate. If she were running again herself, I would have no doubt that she would win, and probably win by a huge margin.”

Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter told NOTUS that he’s concerned that the large number of Republicans competing for the seat “raises the danger” of two Democrats potentially emerging and heading to a runoff, though a Democrat has never represented the district.

However, he’s encouraged all candidates who reached out to him for advice.

“Look, it is time-consuming,” Carter said. “It is a big responsibility. But as long as they’ve got their life in order, I encourage them to do it. We need good people.”