ATLANTA – Four Democrats and two Republicans want U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s job.
But only one has raised even half the campaign cash the controversial Greene, R-Rome, amassed during the first nine months of the 2022 election cycle.
Greene, who was stripped of her committee assignments by majority Democrats last February during her first weeks in office for inflammatory remarks and social media postings, raised $6.3 million toward her reelection bid through the end of last month, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Only U.S. Army combat veteran Marcus Flowers, a Democrat challenging Greene, is even in the same ballpark when it comes to fundraising. His campaign brought in more than $3.3 million during the first nine months of this year and reported nearly $1.1 million cash on hand as of Sept. 30.
None of the other Democrats vying for a chance to challenge Greene has raised $1 million. Holly McCormack, an insurance agent, came closest with just less than $700,000.
Rome City Commissioner Wendy Davis’ campaign brought in just more than $250,000 during the first nine months of the election cycle. Businesswoman Lateefah Conner has brought in about $110,000.
The two Republican hopefuls looking to unseat Greene in next May’s GOP primary fared even worse. Small business owner Jennifer Strahan had raised about $56,000 through the end of last month, while Mark Clay raised just $6,000.
While Greene is dominating her potential challengers in fundraising, she hardly needs the cash in light of the free publicity she has been attracting.
She and fellow conservative Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida have been crisscrossing the country hosting “America First” rallies, continuing to cast doubts on the results from the 2020 presidential election and criticizing the various COVID-19 vaccines.
Greene cruised to victory last November in Georgia’s heavily Republican 14th Congressional District, winning almost 75% of the vote after the Democratic candidate moved out of state and dropped out of the race before Election Day.
The district includes all of 11 counties in Northwest Georgia and part of a 12th, stretching from Haralson and Paulding counties on the south to the Tennessee line.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.