The voters in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s old northwest Georgia congressional district have less than two months to winnow a winner out of a list of 21 candidates who qualified to succeed her.
The March 10 special election for U.S. House district 14 will feature 17 Republicans, three Democrats and an Independent.
The free for all was triggered by Greene’s surprise announcement in November that she would be stepping down a year early, on Jan. 5. Her decision was due in part to a threat against her son’s life and her own home after her public disagreements with President Donald Trump, which included the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The largest contingent of those who want to succeed her — four of them — hail from Paulding County. Cobb, Dade, Floyd and Whitfield counties produced three candidates apiece. The other five candidates are from Catoosa, Coweta, Fulton, Polk and Walker counties.
The mix includes an auctioneer and truck driver, who was until Tuesday a member of the Georgia Senate: Republican Colton Moore, of Trenton, stepped down to run for this congressional seat.
Also in the running are a U.S. Marine, two attorneys (one a prosecutor), a pastor, several business owners (one who deals in electric bicycles), a couple farmers (one a cattle producer the other also a teacher), a couple retirees (one is now a political writer), a risk engineer, a patent practitioner, a travel consultant, and one who works in the railroad supply chain sector. Several listed their occupation as self-employed, another as financial services and one as entrepreneur.
The three Democrats are Shawn Harris from Cedartown in Polk County, Jonathan Hobbs from Dallas in Paulding County, and Jim Davis from Floyd County.
The Independent is Rob “Rush Ruszkowski from Dade County.
The Republicans are Tom Gray from Powder Springs in Cobb County, James Marty Brown from Tunnel Hill in Whitfield County, Jennifer Jaye Turnipseed from Chickamauga in Walker County, Brian Stover from Dallas in Paulding County, Star Black from Kennesaw in Cobb County, Megahn Strickland from Marietta in Cobb County, Christian Michael Hurd from Rocky Face in Whitfield County, Reagan Box from Rome in Floyd County, Beau Brown from Silver Creek in Floyd County, Colton Moore from Trenton in Dade County, Clayton McLean Fuller from Trenton in Dade County, Jared Craig from Coweta County, Nicky Lama from Whitfield County, Trey Kelly from Fulton County, Eric Cunningham from Paulding County, Larry E. Hilley from Catoosa County, and James Edward Tully from Paulding County.
If no candidate takes a majority of the vote, which is likely with such a large field, a runoff will occur April 7.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s website lists candidate details, including residency, occupation, contact information and campaign websites. Find that information by selecting the March 17 special election here: https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/qualifying-candidate-information.
“There are a ton of voters who pay as much attention to the campaign itself as my six-year-old pays to his napkin at dinner.”
