Two candidates advance from crowded field
Seventeen candidates spanning both parties competed Tuesday in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, but only two advanced to an April 7 runoff. Clay Fuller, a Republican former prosecutor endorsed by President Donald Trump, and Shawn Harris, a Democrat and retired army general, will face each other to fill the remainder of former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's term through the end of the year.
The special election drew unusual dynamics in one of the nation's most conservative districts. Even though four Republican candidates dropped out before voting, the Republican field fractured among more than a dozen candidates, including former state senator Colton Moore. Harris, who lost to Greene two years ago, won about 135,000 votes in that 2024 race, a record in the district.
Harris outraised Fuller heading into Tuesday
Fuller, a lieutenant colonel in the air national guard and former Trump White House fellow, benefited from the president's endorsement and visited campaign events with Trump in February at the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia.
Harris told voters that the district remained open to a Democrat because Greene "was so far out there." He argued that Republicans would struggle to find someone closer to the center who could compete against him. The Cook Political Report rates the district as R+19, but Democrats have been over-performing in Republican districts since Trump's election.
Economic anxiety shapes voter priorities
Harris centered his campaign on kitchen-table issues. He said people in Georgia focused more on economic hardship than foreign wars, and that Congress should work on reducing grocery costs. "The economy is very bad," Harris told voters. "People know that things cost more now. You don't have to be told, you just know it, you can feel it across the board. Middle-class families are now struggling to pay the light bill, put food on the table, trying to figure out how they're going to pay their rent or pay their mortgage."
Voters offered competing visions of what mattered most. Yvonne Otts, 85, said she wanted "somebody with good sense, common sense" and supported a Republican because "the president should have people around him who support him." Arthur Carlson, turning 97, voted for one of the three Democrats in the field, saying Trump "says America First, but he doesn't act it" and citing the war in Iran as evidence.
Greene's departure opens the seat
Greene, who resigned in November 2025, had broken with Trump after years of loyalty. She questioned his first strike on Iran in June and raised alarms during budget talks that ending healthcare subsidies would hurt her constituents. The administration's resistance on the Epstein files proved the final rupture, leading to her departure to avoid a contentious primary challenge.
The runoff on April 7 will determine who completes Greene's term with hopes of seeking re-election. A Democratic victory in the district would be unusual for the region and would test whether Trump's endorsement carries weight in areas where he remains popular.
