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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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At least 22 people are vying to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene after the Georgia Republican left Congress last week.
In November, Greene, the former Donald Trump ally who was elected to represent Georgia's 14th district in 2020, announced her resignation following a public split with the president. She served her last day in office on January 5, 2026.
Greene had clashed with Republican leadership over key issues including files associated with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, foreign policy decisions and last year's government shutdown.
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The election to replace her, set for March 10 by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, comes as the GOP seeks to protect its slim five-seat majority in the House of Representatives ahead of the November midterms. The seat will likely be filled by a Republican as the majority of candidates throwing their hat into the ring are Republicans and the district is deeply conservative.
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Nevertheless, the extent to which GOP candidates command support will provide pundits with an insight into the mood of Trump-aligned Republicans some 14 months into his second term in office.
"The Georgia special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene is as much a test of the kind of Republican people want to represent them as anything else," Mark Shanahan, who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the U.K., told Newsweek.
"We're likely to see a GOP fight between MTG-type MAGA activists with a focus on economic affordability, and more buccaneering Trumpists offering fealty to the Trump 2.0 agenda."
According to filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), 22 candidates are running in the election—19 Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent.
Candidates from both parties will run on the same ballot. If no-one wins a majority, the top two will face each other in a run-off election on April 7.
The candidates are:
Democrats
- Shawn Harris
- Clarence Blalock
Republicans
- Star Black
- Reagan Box
- Jefferson Edward Criswell
- Michael Allen Corbin
- Uloma Ekpete
- Elvis Casely
- Benjamin Cope
- Linvel Risner
- Jim Tully
- Jenna Turnipseed
- James Brown
- Timothy Brown
- Colton Moore
- Nicky Lama
- Jacqueline Wilmer
- Thomas Gray
- Megahn Strickland
- Christian Hurd
- Brian Stover
Independents
- Rob Ruszkowski
Polling for the race is yet to take place, making it more difficult to predict its outcome.
But some candidates have higher public profiles than others. Moore, for instance, is a state senator and a prominent figure in Georgia politics. Harris stood against Greene in the November 2024 election and won 36 percent of the vote to Greene's 64 percent.
Charles S. Bullock, III, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia told Newsweek: "I suspect that the leading candidate is Senator Colton Moore from the extreme North West corner of the district. He has been very successful at attracting media coverage, is much like MTG was until her recent road to Damascus experience so his views and style would be seen by many as a continuation of MTG's previous approach."
"I would expect one Republican, probably State Senator Colton Moore, whose senate district constitutes 22 percent of Greene’s congressional district, and one Democrat, probably Shawn Harris, to make the runoff," Calvin Jillson, a politics professor at Southern Methodist University in Texas, told Newsweek. "Greene won by 28 points in 2024, so I would expect the Republican to prevail in the runoff, but the margin will likely shrink as Democrats have been overperforming around the country. How much the margin shrinks may give us some insight into the November 2026 general elections are likely to go.”
He added: “A lower probability outcome, but an immensely entertaining possibility, is that the nineteen Republican candidates so divide the conservative vote that the two Democrats slip through to the runoff. Governor Kemp’s political machine should be advising some of the no-hope Republican candidates out of this race.”
According to the FEC, the candidates who have raised the most money for the race are Harris ($1,292,261.99), Black ($78,180.60) and Box ($51,059.50).
The FEC records candidates who have registered and filed a financial report. Other candidates may have and may will register in the weeks to come before the election. Trump is yet to endorse a candidate but if he does so, this could prove consequential for the race.
Bullock said: "The 14th is MAGA-land so anyone who wins will almost certainly follow the party line. A Trump endorsement would be helpful in this district."
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