Republican Clayton Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris advanced to a runoff in a special House election in Georgia’s 14th congressional district. The two front-runners will face off in a runoff on April 7 to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Harris received the most votes in Tuesday’s special election (43,241), followed by Fuller (40,388).
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In Georgia, a runoff election is held when no candidate receives a majority of votes in a general or special election. According to the rules, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the total votes cast to win outright. If none of the candidates reaches this threshold, the top two advance to the second round of elections.
Candidates for the second round of elections in Georgia
Shawn Harris
Shawn Harris is a former U.S. Army Brigadier General, cattle rancher, and Democratic politician. Harris served 40 years in the Army and retired as a brigadier general. His career included serving as a combat infantry commander in Afghanistan and as a senior defense official and defense attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Harris is also a cattleman and rancher in Rockmart, Georgia, and holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Tuskegee University and a graduate degree from the US Army War College.
Harris identifies as a moderate Democrat and his campaign focused on:
Reducing the cost of living and tackling inflation.
Expanding Veterans Care and Mental Health Services.
Fixing the immigration system and protecting American jobs.
“For years we have watched Marjorie Taylor Greene on television, prioritizing national drama over Northwest Georgia residents. The conversation has changed since Marjorie left, giving us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally bring real leadership back to this district,” a statement on his website said.
Clayton Fuller
Clayton Fuller is a Republican candidate backed by President Donald Trump in an election seen as a test of the US president’s influence on his party. Fuller is a Republican politician and former prosecutor from Georgia.
Fuller is also a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and previously served as legal counsel for U.S. Central Command’s Middle East operations.
He previously served as District Attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit in Northwest Georgia, a position he held from 2023 until resigning to run for Congress.
This is his second attempt at this position; he finished fourth in the 2020 Republican primary, which Greene eventually won.
During the Trump administration, he served as a White House Fellow in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Defense.
Fuller holds a BA in English from Emory University, an MPA from Cornell University, and a JD from Southern Methodist University.
Fuller received the “total and complete endorsement” of Trump in February 2026, helping him become the top Republican in a crowded field of 17 candidates.
Why Georgia Matters to Trump
The race has drawn extraordinary national attention because it offers an early measure of Trump’s control of his base in a district that has been a stronghold of his Make America Great Again movement and thrust back into the spotlight by last year’s public split between Trump and Greene.
Read also | Marjorie Taylor Greene accuses Trump of threatening her
Georgia’s 14th congressional district is a largely working-class corridor from the Atlanta suburbs north to the Tennessee border. Greene won the seat in 2020 and quickly became one of MAGA’s most outspoken national figures.
Greene parted ways with Trump in late 2025 after going against his wishes by pushing for the release of investigative files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The winner of the runoff will serve until the end of 2026, but must immediately campaign for a full two-year term beginning in January 2027, starting with a May primary that could pit many of the same contenders against each other again.
That race will be part of the November general election, when all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one-third of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be up for grabs. Democrats are trying to take control of the House, but face longer odds in the Senate.
Key things
- The runoff election is a crucial test of Trump’s influence in Georgia’s 14th congressional district.
- Shawn Harris focuses on veterans health care and cost of living and appeals to moderate voters.
- Clayton Fuller represents the Trump support and is trying to regain Republican support in a critical election.
