By the end of Tuesday night, Georgians should know who will be the newest person to represent the state in Congress, and voters at one Kennesaw precinct had a lot to say about their choices. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down from the 14th District in January after publicly tussling with President Donald Trump […]
A voter enters Ben Robinson Community Center in Kennesaw on Election Day. Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller will face off for control of the Congressional seat once held by conservative firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
By the end of Tuesday night, Georgians should know who will be the newest person to represent the state in Congress, and voters at one Kennesaw precinct had a lot to say about their choices.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down from the 14th District in January after publicly tussling with President Donald Trump over issues like Israel’s military action in Gaza and the files of the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
After a tough and crowded primary last month, the two remaining candidates competing to represent the deep red district are Democrat Shawn Harris and Trump-backed Republican Clay Fuller.
Harris, a farmer and retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army, took about 37% of the vote in last month’s primary with more than a dozen other candidates on the ballot.
The runoff has been a low turnout affair so far, with nearly 7% of voters casting a ballot during early voting, according to the Secretary of State’s election data hub.
Voters leaving the Ben Robertson Community Center in Kennesaw Tuesday morning bundled against the morning chill. Kennesaw is in Cobb County, parts of which were added to the 14th District in the last redistricting cycle, adding a more moderate, suburban corner to the otherwise largely rural, conservative district.
Some, like Kay Salmon, a Harris voter who works in human resources, said they want to see a change in the economy and in leadership at the federal level.
“We need jobs, and of course we need to bring a change because the GOP controls all three branches,” she said. “Nothing’s getting done. Something’s got to be done.”
Project manager Paula Ward said she cast her ballot for Harris in part as a response to the Trump administration.
“I have been a centrist voter for many years, but the last 10 years have really made me want candidates who are motivated by human decency,” she said. “I hope that all of the hurt and destruction of this administration can be undone and that we can get back to taking care of each other.”
Others cited Trump in their decision to vote for Fuller, a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard and former district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.
Trump gave Fuller his endorsement, helping him to achieve about just under 35% of the vote in a race with about a dozen Republicans.
That endorsement was enough for Kennesaw retiree Della Nichols, who cast her ballot Tuesday morning.
“I trust President Trump’s opinion and I am totally Republican,” she said. “And what I’ve read about Clay Fuller and what I’ve heard about him, it’s all good.”
But other Fuller voters like Steve Arant said Trump’s backing didn’t sway them either way.
“It’s the simple fact that he’s prior military,” Arant said. “He gives me enough that I can believe him that he’s going to do what I need him to do.”
Polls are set to close at 7 p.m. Stay tuned to the Georgia Recorder for election results.
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