RINGGOLD, Ga. (AP) — Republican Clay Fuller on Tuesday won Marjorie Taylor Greene’s former U.S. House seat in Georgia, turning back a Democratic challenge with the help of President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Democrat Shawn Harris had led the first round of voting in March in a 17-candidate field, but couldn’t overcome the northwest Georgia district’s strongly Republican tilt.
Fuller’s arrival in the House bolsters a slim Republican majority. But he will
have to run again later this year to secure a full two-year term.
Greene, once among Trump’s most ardent supporters, resigned in January after falling out with the president.
Trump’s endorsement boosted Fuller over Republican competitors but couldn’t win him a majority on March 10. However, the 12 total Republican candidates won nearly 60% of the vote. The 14th District is rated as the most Republican-leaning district in Georgia by the Cook Political Report.
Fuller, who served as district attorney prosecuting crimes in four counties, was tapped by Trump in February to succeed Greene in the district, which stretches across 10 counties from suburban Atlanta to Tennessee.
Fuller backed Trump to the hilt, finding no issue on which he disagreed with the president in a March 23 debate.
“We need an America First fighter to stand strong for northwest Georgia,” said Fuller, who was a White House fellow in the first Trump administration and is a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia Air National Guard.
Harris, a cattle farmer and retired general, contrasted himself with Greene’s bomb-throwing style. He argued he’s a “dirt-road Democrat” with common sense, and practical-minded Republicans should vote for him because he will focus on the district’s interest.
“He has sold his soul to Donald Trump,” Harris said of Fuller on March 23. “The reality of it is he cannot fight for you because he cannot go against the president.”
Fuller will serve out the remaining months of Greene’s term, bolstering the party’s slim majority in the House. Once he takes office, Republicans will control 218 seats to Democrats’ 214, with one independent and two vacancies.
If Fuller wants to remain in Congress beyond January, he will have to run again. Republicans and Democrats seeking a full two-year term are set for a May 19 party primary, and possibly a June 16 party runoff, before advancing to the general election in November.
Greene was one of the most well-known members of Congress until she left in January. She remained loyal to Trump after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, promoting Trump’s falsehoods about a stolen election. When Trump ran again in 2024, she toured the country with him and spoke at his rallies while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.
But Greene began clashing with Trump last year after he and other Republicans pushed back against her running for U.S. Senate or governor. Greene criticized Trump’s foreign policy and his reluctance to release documents involving the Jeffrey Epstein case. The president eventually had enough, saying he would support a primary challenge against her. Greene announced a week later that she would resign.
