Republican Clay Fuller wins runoff to succeed Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress

Clay Fuller, a Trump-backed Republican, is heading to Washington to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after winning a runoff election Tuesday against Democrat Shawn Harris.

The Associated Press called the race for Fuller, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and former district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, at 8:23 p.m. Tuesday.

As of 9 p.m., Fuller claimed nearly 56% of the vote and appeared to lead Harris by about 10 percentage points, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State.

Fuller attributed his win to Trump, who endorsed him and campaigned for him in Rome.

“He made sure that he was the ultimate trump card,” Fuller said. “Now the Democrat Party poured millions of dollars into this campaign, poured lies into this campaign, but they can’t beat Donald Trump, and they never will, and I will be on Capitol Hill as a warrior to have his back each and every day.”

In remarks Tuesday night to reporters in Rome, Harris conceded the race but celebrated his campaign’s performance in the deep red district and what it means for future elections. Harris appeared to be on track to make significant gains for Democrats.

“We didn’t lose this race, because I’m gonna tell you how we won the race. We were short 4,512 votes. Think about what I just said, if we get out and vote, if we get out and speak our voice, we will win this election every time, and we’re gonna win this election come November,” Harris said.

Fuller’s victory returns a Republican to the northwest Georgia district, which has been without a representative in Congress since Greene stepped down in January after feuding with President Donald Trump over issues like Israel’s actions in Gaza and the files of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

His election will also offer some slight breathing room to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson. The House currently has 217 Republicans and 214 Democrats.

The 14th District is the most Republican-leaning district in the state, according to the Cook Political Report, with Republicans performing 19 points better than in the nation as a whole.

An endorsement from Trump helped Fuller defeat a crowded field in the Republican primary last month.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: [email protected].