ROME, Ga. — Democrat Shawn Harris and Republican Clay Fuller will compete in a runoff election on April 7 for the congressional seat formerly held by Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Harris was the top vote-getter in Tuesday’s special election with 37% of the vote, while Fuller followed closely with 35%.
The runoff was triggered because no candidate in the multi-party field secured a majority of the vote.
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While Harris led the field, his lead was attributed to a lack of other Democratic challengers, while the Republican vote was split among 12 different candidates.
Political experts suggest the consolidated Republican vote may pose a challenge for the Democratic campaign in the upcoming second round.
Harris emphasized his goal of building a broad base of support for the next phase of the campaign.
“Finally, we can break through as a coalition of Democrats and independents and Republicans,” Harris said after the initial results were released.
He previously ran for the seat in the last election and achieved a similar percentage of the vote.
Fuller, the Republican candidate backed by President Donald Trump, finished just two percentage points behind Harris.
He expressed confidence in his position heading into the head-to-head matchup.
“I feel like I’m the most dangerous candidate in the race,” Fuller said. “That’s how I feel.”
University of Georgia Professor Emeritus Charles Bullock analyzed the results, noting that Harris’ performance was unexpected given the circumstances of the race. He pointed out that Harris had significant financial backing and was running for an open seat rather than challenging an incumbent.
“I’m surprised that he didn’t do better against a relatively unknown Fuller than he did against high-profile Greene,” Bullock said.
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Bullock suggested that Harris may have reached the limit of his support in the conservative district.
“One might have expected that being an open seat without running against an incumbent and the kind of money he had behind him, he would be able to build out from that, but he didn’t,” Bullock said.
The math for the runoff appears to favor the Republican side, according to political analysis. Voters who cast ballots for the 11 other Republican candidates, as well as those who supported the Libertarian and independent candidates, are expected to largely support Fuller in the runoff.
Greene, who previously held the congressional seat, did not participate in the primary’s endorsement process. She declined to endorse any of the candidates involved in the special election to fill her former position.
The runoff election is scheduled for April 7.
Bullock noted that the timeline presents a significant challenge for the Democratic campaign to find new voters.
“So going into this runoff, which will take place in four weeks, I think it’s going to be very difficult for the Democrat to build out from what he achieved yesterday,” Bullock said. “That may be his floor, but it also may be very close to his ceiling.”
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