ATLANTA — The crowded race to succeed former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will come down to a runoff between a Republican endorsed by President Donald Trump and a Democrat seeking an upset in a conservative northwest Georgia district.
Republican Clayton Fuller, a former prosecutor, and Democrat Shawn Harris, a retired Army brigadier general, will meet in an April 7 runoff, according to unofficial results of a special election Tuesday.
They emerged as the leaders among a field of 17 candidates seeking to replace Greene, who resigned in January after splitting with Trump on foreign policy and the release of files related to convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Neither candidate received a majority of votes needed to win the special election outright Tuesday night. Harris led the field, while Fuller garnered the most votes among 12 Republican candidates who split the GOP electorate.
A voter prepares to cast his ballot at Northstar Church in in Cobb County during a special election for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District seat in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Seventeen candidates were on the ballot for the special election to fill former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s congressional seat. (Ashtin Barker/Capitol Beat)
Fuller’s second-place finish eliminates from contention pro-Trump firebrand and former state Sen. Colton Moore, R-Trenton.
Trump’s backing of Fuller helped boost him into a head-to-head runoff with Harris, who lost to Greene with 36% of the vote in 2024.
“Voters in Georgia are fired up to send a strong conservative to represent them in Washington. Clay will be a strong ally of President Trump and help House Republicans grow the economy, secure the border, and keep Americans safe,” said Reilly Richardson, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Harris recognized the challenge of winning the runoff but said voters are increasingly supporting his campaign.
“This race isn’t over. Northwest Georgia showed up in a BIG way, and now we head to a runoff,” Harris said on X. “Momentum is real. The coalition is growing. Let’s finish what we started. On to the runoff.”
The winner of the April runoff will fill the remaining months of Greene’s two-year term.
After the runoff, a primary in May and potential runoff in June will decide each party’s nominees for the November general election.
Voters cast their ballots at Northstar Church in in Cobb County during a special election for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District seat in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Seventeen candidates were on the ballot for the special election to fill former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s congressional seat. (Ashtin Barker/Capitol Beat)
Three other special elections Tuesday for seats in the Georgia General Assembly are also heading to runoffs April 7.
Republican Lanny Thomas will face Democrat Jack Zibluk in the race for Moore’s former seat in the state Senate, which covers the northwest corner of Georgia including Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, and Walker counties.
A state House race between four Democrats in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties will also be decided by a runoff between Venola Mason and Kelly Kautz to replace former state Rep. Karen Bennett, D-Stone Mountain, who resigned in January and pleaded guilty to charges that she fraudulently obtained $13,940 in unemployment supplements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a Richmond County state House runoff, Democrat Sheila Clark Nelson will face Republican Thomas McAdams. The winner will take the seat previously held by state Rep. Lynn Heffner, D-Augusta, who resigned after moving out of the district because of damage to her house from Hurricane Helene.
Meanwhile, many other bills failed to advance this year, including proposals to eliminate all property taxes, legalize sports betting, allow breweries to sell beer in stores, and make lemon pepper wings Georgia’s official wing flavor.
House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, called the income tax cut that his chamber sent to the Senate on Friday a “historic effort by the General Assembly to deliver meaningful relief.”
“Tax dollars belong to the people, not the government. That’s why the Georgia House was proud to pass legislation to put more money back in the pockets of the people who earned it,” Burns said.
House Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, D-Columbus, said Republicans blocked bills focused on making life more affordable, such as proposals to expand health insurance, build more homes for people with low incomes, and subsidize child care.
“Georgia families are sitting at their kitchen tables tonight doing math that doesn’t add up: working more hours, falling further behind, choosing between prescriptions and groceries, wondering if they’ll ever be able to afford a home in the community where they grew up,” Hugley said.
Here’s a look at some of the key proposals remaining in this year’s legislative session, which ends April 2.
Senators rejected a bill that would have prevented electric utilities from passing on the costs of data centers to other customers, instead opting to abolish tax exemptions for computer equipment and other technology used by data centers. The House passed a separate bill that aims to shield consumers from some costs incurred by new data centers. Critics say neither bill goes far enough to protect residents and businesses from rising power bills.
Lawmakers are considering sending literacy coaches to elementary schools and banning cellphones in high schools, measures that they say will improve students’ academic outcomes.
The way Georgians vote could change from touchscreens to paper ballots filled out by hand. State law already requires the end of computerized QR codes used by touchscreens by July 1. But legislators are still looking for an alternative. The Senate defeated a proposal for hand-marked paper ballots Friday amid warnings that a swift change would cause “chaos.” Legislators plan to continue working on the issue in the closing weeks of this year’s session.
Abuses of artificial intelligence would be reigned in. The Senate passed a bill Friday that aims to protect minors from AI by limiting sexually explicit material and disclosing that online interactions aren’t with a real person. Another Senate bill would make “virtual peeping” a crime by prohibiting the use of AI to virtually undress people.
For any bill to pass, it must be approved by both the House and Senate before the end of this year’s legislative session.
Then Gov. Brian Kemp would decide whether to make those bills law or veto them.
ATLANTA — The slate of candidates for this year’s Georgia elections is now set, sparking a fierce competition before primaries in two months and general elections in November.
Voters will have many choices up and down the ballot, including elections for governor, Congress and all 236 seats in the General Assembly. Qualifying to run for office ended Friday.
The race for governor drew a crowded field from both Republicans and Democrats to replace Gov. Brian Kemp, who will leave office after serving two terms.
The top candidates on the Republican ballot for governor include Attorney General Chris Carr, health care executive Rick Jackson, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates include former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former state Sen. Jason Esteves, state Rep. Derrick Jackson, and former DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond.
This year’s elections will also shake up Georgia’s congressional delegation, no matter who wins.
Four out of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House members aren’t seeking reelection, all of them Republicans.
U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are instead running for U.S. Senate against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley is also in the Republican race for Senate.
In addition, U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk is retiring, and former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned in January.
Among Democrats, longtime U.S. Rep. David Scott faces challenges from former Gwinnett County school board chair Everton Blair, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, and state Sen. Emanuel Jones.
Statewide offices drew plenty of intraparty competition, from lieutenant governor to the Georgia Supreme Court.
The races for lieutenant governor are dominated by rivalries among state senators. Republicans running for Georgia’s No. 2 job include Sens. Gregory Dolezal, Blake Tillery, and Steve Gooch, along with former Sen. John F. Kennedy. Democrats will pick between Sens. Josh McLaurin and Nabilah Parkes.
Two Democrats are mounting challenges against incumbent Georgia Supreme Court justices. Former state Sen. Jen Jordan is seeking to unseat Justice Sarah Warren, and trial attorney Miracle Rankin is running against Justice Charlie Bethel.
Georgia’s primary elections are scheduled for May 19, followed by runoffs June 16 if necessary. The winners of each party’s primaries will face off in the general election Nov. 3.
ATLANTA — Georgia senators shot down a bill Friday that would have switched the state’s voting method to paper ballots filled out by hand before this November’s elections.
The bill’s defeat sets up a scramble for Georgia lawmakers to find a way to remove computer QR codes from ballots this year, as required by a state law passed two years ago.
The Senate voted 27-21 on the bill, two votes short of the majority needed for legislation to pass in the 56-member Senate. Seven senators skipped the vote following warnings of election “chaos” if it passed.
“We’re at an impasse,” said Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania. “If we ignore it again, we’re just going to kick the can. Sooner or later, folks, you have to pay the piper, and it’s time to remove the QR codes.”
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, speaks in favor of a Senate Bill 568, which would have required voters to use hand-marked paper ballots in November’s elections on Friday, March 6, 2026. The bill fell short of the majority needed to pass. (Ashtin Barker/Capitol Beat)
All in-person Georgia voters use touchscreens that print out paper ballots, which are then tabulated by scanning machines that read a QR code. Critics of Georgia’s voting technology say the QR codes prevent voters from being able to ensure that their ballot accurately reflects their choices.
Hand-marked ballots are the main election day voting method in two-thirds of the United States, according to the election technology organization Verified Voting.
The effort to replace Georgia’s voting equipment, purchased for over $100 million before the 2020 election, is driven by a combination of election skeptics and election security advocates.
The legislation, Senate Bill 568, also would have limited early voting locations. Currently, Georgians can vote in advance of an election at any location in their county, but the bill would have assigned voters to one site to ensure the correct ballots are pre-printed for each jurisdiction.
“It would be chaos if we were to implement it this fast,” said Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain. “This bill is too hasty, it does not protect Georgians, and it fundamentally destabilizes our electoral system.”
Because SB 568 failed before Friday’s deadline for bills to pass at least one legislative chamber, either the state Senate or House, it’s likely dead this legislative session.
But it could be revived by amending a different elections bill that has advanced. One candidate is Senate Bill 214, a measure that cleared the Senate last year that would also require almost all Georgia voters to bubble in their choices instead of using touchscreen computers.
Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, said lawmakers need to prioritize converting to hand-marked ballots now, before this year’s midterm elections.
“All we’ve heard is excuses,” Dolezal said. “Here we sit after having promised that we would do it after the last election, and it’s still not done. … I don’t think it’s ever going to be easy.”
Georgia’s primary election in May will still be held with the touchscreen voting technology, but the state law prohibiting QR-coded ballots goes into effect July 1.
ATLANTA — Republicans in the Georgia Senate passed a bill Friday that bans candidates from raising more than half of their campaign money from outside of the state, a limitation that Democrats said inhibits their fundraising in nationalized elections.
Sen. Timothy Bearden, R-Carrollton, said the bill is about preventing non-Georgians from influencing Georgia elections — not about targeting Democrats.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 33-21 to pass Senate Bill 423, sending it to the state House.
“This legislation promotes greater transparency in campaign finance, curbs the influence of dark money and ensures Georgia elections are driven by Georgians, not by outside forces,” Bearden said. “This measure promotes transparency without prohibiting speech.”
Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, said Republicans are using their political power to change campaign finance rules for their benefit.
“This is a bald attempt to say that if any Democratic candidate has national support, they need to cut it out,” McLaurin said. “Money is money y’all, and big money distorts politics, and this bill does nothing about that.”
Democratic candidates in high-profile Georgia races have often received more money than Republican candidates in recent years, according to campaign finance records.
If the bill also passes the state House and is signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, violations could be prosecuted as felonies with punishments up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.
That measure, House Bill 414, would allow the Georgia Ethics Commission to seek subpoenas against groups or individuals in other states who are suspected of breaking Georgia campaign finance laws, such as contribution limits or transparency requirements. HB 414 is now pending with Kemp.
