By Milton Kirby | Rome, GA | March 16, 2026
Voters in northwest Georgia will return to the polls on April 7 to decide who will replace former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene after a crowded special election failed to produce a majority winner.
The race has narrowed to two candidates: Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller, who finished first and second respectively in the March 10 special election.
Harris led the field with 37.3% of the vote (43,241), while Fuller secured 34.9% (40,388), setting up a runoff after neither candidate crossed the 50% threshold required under Georgia law. The winner will serve the remainder of Greene’s congressional term, which runs through December 31, 2027.
A Seat Opened by Political Fallout
The special election was triggered after Greene resigned earlier this year following a highly public split with Donald Trump.
Greene had once been one of Trump’s most visible allies, frequently appearing at rallies and promoting his claims of election interference. But tensions grew after the two clashed over issues including health care costs, U.S. policy toward Israel’s war in Gaza, and the release of files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Her departure opened a rare vacancy in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, one of the most reliably Republican districts in the state. Trump carried the district by 37 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, underscoring the steep challenge Democrats typically face there.
Harris Builds an Unusual Coalition
Harris, a Polk County cattle farmer and retired brigadier general, entered the race emphasizing coalition politics in a district dominated by conservative voters.
During a campaign rally in Rome attended by Pete Buttigieg, Harris urged supporters to look beyond party labels.
“The way we’re going to win is simple,” Harris told the crowd. “More excited Democrats knocking on doors, independents flipping our way, and Republicans that the Republican Party has left behind voting for me.”
Harris has framed his campaign as a moderate alternative capable of representing the entire district. He has also placed a strong focus on veterans, noting that roughly 40,000 veterans live in the district.
“This Democrat is a moderate and I will represent everyone in the district,” Harris said.
He has argued that the economy remains the top concern among voters, adding that tensions related to the ongoing conflict with Iran have intensified economic anxieties.
Harris previously ran against Greene in 2024. Although he lost that race, he received more votes than any Democratic candidate in the district in more than a decade.
Fuller Leans on Trump’s Endorsement
Fuller, the district attorney for northwest Georgia’s Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit, has leaned heavily on his endorsement from Trump as he heads into the runoff.
Speaking after the first-round results were announced, Fuller described the outcome as an encouraging sign for Republicans.
“We know that the endorsement from President Trump made a difference in this race, and we’re going to go and win it,” Fuller said. “It’s time that the Republican vote unites and gets a representative to Capitol Hill as soon as possible.”
Fuller serves as the top prosecutor for a four-county judicial circuit in northwest Georgia, where he has tried cases involving murder, rape, and armed robbery, securing life sentences in several jury trials. He has also argued criminal appeals before the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Georgia Court of Appeals.
In addition to his legal career, Fuller is a lieutenant colonel and deputy staff judge advocate in the Air National Guard. In 2024 he deployed to operations centers in South Carolina and Qatar supporting U.S. Central Command missions in the Middle East.
Fuller also served as a White House Fellow from 2018 to 2019, working in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Defense on issues including opioid policy and support for POW/MIA families.
Raised in the North Georgia mountains, Fuller attended Emory University before earning a master’s degree in public administration from Cornell University and a law degree from Southern Methodist University.
A Test of Political Strength in Northwest Georgia
The runoff now presents a political contrast between a Trump-aligned Republican prosecutor and a retired Army general attempting to assemble a cross-party coalition in one of Georgia’s most conservative regions.
Although the district’s voting history favors Republicans, Harris argues that voter frustration with national politics has created an opening. “Yes, it’s ruby red,” Harris said after the initial results. “It won’t turn blue, but it’ll definitely turn pink.”
For Republicans, the contest is also a test of Trump’s continued influence inside the party after the dramatic political split that led to Greene’s resignation.
For voters in the mountains and rural counties of northwest Georgia, the April runoff will determine who represents them in Washington for the next year and a half — and whether the district continues its deep-red tradition or edges toward a more competitive political future.
Sidebar: Why Georgia Requires a 50% Majority in Elections
Georgia election law requires a candidate to receive more than 50 percent of the vote to win most statewide and federal elections outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top twovote-getters advance to a runoff election.
The rule was adopted in the 1960s as part of broader election reforms intended to ensure that winning candidates have majority support rather than simply finishing first in a crowded field.
Runoffs are especially common in special elections, where many candidates from both parties often appear on the same ballot. In these contests, voters choose among all candidates at once rather than through separate party primaries.
If no candidate reaches the majority threshold in the first round, the runoff typically held several weeks later gives voters a final choice between the top two finishers.
Georgia is one of the few states that still regularly uses runoff elections. The system has produced several nationally watched contests in recent years, including the 2021 U.S. Senate runoffs that ultimately shifted control of the Senate in Washington.
In Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, the April 7 runoff between Shawn Harris and Clay Fuller will determine who completes the remainder of Marjorie Taylor Greene’s term in Congress.
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