Georgia special election: Clay Fuller, Shawn Harris lead race for Marjorie Taylor Greene seat

A special election in Georgia’s 14th congressional district will head to a runoff after Republican Clay Fuller and Democrat Shawn Harris finished ahead of the crowded field of candidates.

The vote on Tuesday was held to replace former representative Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress and has drawn national attention as it is widely being seen as a test of Donald Trump’s influence in the Republican Party.

Fuller, a former prosecutor and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, had Trump’s endorsement and raised more than $1 million ahead of the election.

Harris, a retired Army general and cattle rancher who previously challenged Greene, raised more than four times that amount during the campaign.

The Republican field included more than a dozen candidates after several contenders dropped out before the election, splitting conservative votes across multiple campaigns.

Fuller and Harris will face each other in a runoff scheduled for April 7.

The winner will serve the remainder of Greene’s term through the end of the year and could seek re-election later.

Harris previously told The Guardian he believes the district may be more competitive than in past elections: “I don’t care who it is, but when we do our analysis – because Marjorie Taylor Greene was so far out there – we don’t see the Republican party, Donald Trump or the local Republican party getting somebody that’s closer to the centre.”

He also pointed to economic concerns among voters: “The economy is very bad. People know that things cost more now. People know that. You don’t have to be told, you just know it, you can feel it across the board.”

“Middle-class families are now struggling to pay the light bill, put food on the table, trying to figure out how they’re going to pay their rent or pay their mortgage.”