Trump backs a candidate to replace Greene, a Georgia Senate race takes shape and more 

The big news in Georgia politics this week was the surprise announcement from a wealthy health care executive that he will join in the GOP primary race for governor.  But there were other significant developments too: Georgia Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk announced he will not seek another term, and President Donald Trump picked his candidate […]

President Donald Trump weighed in this week on the race to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. He endorsed Clay Fuller. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

The big news in Georgia politics this week was the surprise announcement from a wealthy health care executive that he will join in the GOP primary race for governor. 

But there were other significant developments too: Georgia Republican Congressman Barry Loudermilk announced he will not seek another term, and President Donald Trump picked his candidate in the race to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

There are also new legislative candidates vying for a seat at the Gold Dome, including those in a state Senate special election and others mounting a May primary challenge, and another candidate making his attempted comeback bid official. 

Trump backs Clay Fuller in the race to replace Greene 

President Donald Trump has weighed in on the crowded race to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene in northwest Georgia.

Trump gave his backing this week to Republican Clay Fuller, former district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.

“He is strongly supported by the most Highly Respected MAGA Warriors in Georgia, and many Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Trump posted on social media.

Fuller ran for the seat in 2020, coming in fourth in the Republican primary with about 7% of the vote.

But the Trump endorsement could give Fuller an edge in the highly conservative district where more than 20 candidates, mostly Republicans, qualified for the open seat.

Republican Christian Hurd pulled out of the race this week ahead of Trump’s announcement, citing a need to coalesce behind Fuller against Democrat Shawn Harris. Hurd announced on social media that he will challenge Republican state Rep. Steve Tarvin of Chickamauga instead of running for Congress.

“This is the closest a Progressive Democrat has ever been to winning a seat representing Northwest Georgia, and we can’t let that happen,” Hurd said in a statement. 

Harris, one of three Democrats in the race, challenged Greene in 2024 and earned about 36% of the vote. He has raised more than $2.2 million, according to FEC data.

The Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series is set to host two political forums with the candidates on Feb. 15, which will be available to stream on GPB.org and on The Atlanta Press Club Debates YouTube channel the following day.

Loudermilk will not seek another term in Congress 

Georgia Congressman Barry Loudermilk, a Cassville Republican, announced this week that he will not seek another term in Congress after about a decade in office. 

Loudermilk issued a statement Wednesday saying it was time to serve “in other ways” but did not elaborate. 

“I first ran for election to Congress in 2014 and, as I stated then, representing the people in Congress is a service, not a career; and although I continue to have strong support from the people of the Eleventh Congressional District, I believe it is time to contribute to my community, state, and nation in other ways,” he said in the statement. “Therefore, I have decided not to seek re-election at the end of my current term in Congress.”

This means Georgia voters in four districts will choose new congressional representatives this year. U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins are vacating their seats to run for the U.S. Senate, and Greene’s replacement is being chosen now in a special election, though the winner will have to immediately defend the seat this year. 

The ballot for the Senate District 53 special election is set 

There are three Republicans and one Democrat running in a northwest Georgia special election that was called after former Trenton Republican Sen. Colton Moore stepped down to run for Congress. The Recorder reached out to all the candidates. 

Denise Pierce Burns is a homemaker, homesteader and home educator who was the congressional district chair. On her campaign site, she says she is running to “defend life, faith, parental rights and local control.”

Blake Elsberry is a Walker County Republican and a former sole commissioner for Chattooga County. 

Lanny Thomas, a Republican, is a former mayor of Trion and a former public school educator and coach. He said he planned to run for the seat even before Moore decided to step down. He pledged to be a senator who communicates with his constituents and works well with other lawmakers in both chambers “in order to get results” for the district. “I want to run for this seat so that my district can have representation that the people can take pride in,” he said. He said he would tackle affordability issues by being a fiscal conservative and working to eventually eliminate the state income tax, and he sees public safety and supporting public education as other important issues for the district.

John Bentley (Jack) Zibluk is a Lookout Mountain Democrat who is a professor of communication. He said he was already planning to run for the Senate seat “largely to stand up against the controversial Colton Moore.” If elected, he says he would want to coordinate more closely with officials in the Chattanooga metro area on economic development and environmental concerns, and he said he is also concerned about health care, particularly mental health, data centers and road safety and flood control. “Yes, I am about the nuts and bolts rather than divisive cultural issues. That’s really the job,” he said. 

Other announcements: 

Fitz Johnson has officially announced his plans to run for the seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission that he had been appointed to until losing in November to now-Commissioner Peter Hubbard. That potential rematch will be on the ballot this year. 

Duro Haynes, who chairs the Henry County Democratic Party and is a former congressional staffer, says he will challenge Sen. Gail Davenport in the May primary. Davenport, who is a Jonesboro Democrat, has served in the Senate since 2011.