Marjorie Taylor Greene’s exit sets off a MAGA showdown in her old Georgia district

By Kathryn Squyres, CNN

(CNN) — At least 22 candidates have filed to run for former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district in northwest Georgia.

The group includes veterans, farmers and business owners. Seventeen are Republicans. Some have challenged Greene in the past or have held local office, while others are newcomers to politics.

Few are talking much about Greene or her legacy in the district, while several claim to be President Donald Trump’s best local ally.

While the deep-red district is all but certain to stay in Republican hands, the race could give a sense for how voters come down on the split in the party between Greene and President Donald Trump.

All these candidates will run on the same ballot in the special election on March 10. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff on April 7.

The information below comes largely from campaign websites and social media pages.

Republicans

Colton Moore, a former state senator, calls himself “Trump’s No. 1 defender” in the district. Before he resigned to run in the special election, he was expelled from the Senate Republican caucus in 2023 for ripping his colleagues over not agreeing to a special session to impeach Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who obtained a since-dismissed indictment of Trump. At the time, Trump praised Moore, thanking him for his “courage and conviction.” Moore was banned from the state House floor in 2024 for criticizing the late House speaker and was then arrested last January as he tried to push his way into the chamber during the State of the State address.

Jim Tully is a former Greene staffer and the immediate past chair of the district’s Republican committee, although he hasn’t been highlighting his affiliation with the former congresswoman during the campaign so far.

Clay Fuller is the elected district attorney for the judicial district at the northwestern tip of the state. A self-proclaimed “America First district attorney,” Fuller says he’s running to bring manufacturing back to the district.

Brian Stover served on the Paulding County Board of Commissioners for five years before unsuccessfully running for commission chairman. In an ad his campaign said ran during the Sugar Bowl, Stover says he has the same mission as Trump: “to take out the trash.”

Nicky Lama, who calls himself “100% MAGA,” resigned from his post on the Dalton City Council to enter the special election. Lama owns contracting and real estate companies, runs a farm and owns a restaurant in Dalton. He says he was inspired by marching with his grandfather during the tea party movement and voting for Trump in 2020 – the first presidential election in which he was old enough to vote.

Reagan Box is a horse trainer and political newcomer. Box, who had been running for US Senate before switching to the House race, casts herself as a Trump ally with an “America First” agenda.

Jenna Turnipseed runs a farm in northwest Georgia and serves as a high school Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps instructor. She’s an Army veteran who says she now wants to reduce government spending, cut taxes and “defend the values that built this country: faith, family, and hard work.”

James Marty Brown is a small business owner and former firefighter and paramedic. Also a former competitive angler and distance hiker, he lists “America First economic strength” as his top priority.

Tom Gray is the senior pastor at the nondenominational Mars Hill Community Church and founder of an audio project which aims to “connect God’s truth and wisdom to people’s lives.”

Eric Cunningham, who works in the railroad industry, challenged Greene in the 2022 GOP primary but earned only 6% of the vote. Cunningham calls himself a conservative but says he’s concerned about the party alienating moderates and that he wants to represent the “whole Republican Party and independents.”

Beau Brown described himself in a December podcast as a conservative Christian and “homegrown candidate” who supports Trump but doesn’t want to be as flashy as Greene.

Star Black is a former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee and founder and CEO of four businesses. She cites her time as a caregiver for her husband and her mother as the inspiration behind her platform to create a caregivers network of resources for families.

Jared Craig runs a law practice in Newnan, Georgia, about 30 miles south of the district. He unsuccessfully challenged then-Georgia Rep. Drew Ferguson in the 2022 Republican primary.

Christian Hurd is a former US Marine who says his top priorities include executing the president’s agenda, including mass deportations, lowering costs by bringing manufacturing to the district and promoting parental rights in education.

Trey Kelly, the former chairman of the Fulton County Republican Party, is the Georgia executive director for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors.

Meg Strickland, a travel consultant, is running on a “return to normal” – urging “steady leadership, respect, and accountability.”

Larry Hilley’s filing lists him as self-employed and residing in Catoosa County.

Democrats

Shawn Harris, who grew up on a Georgia family farm before enlisting in the Marines and later serving in the Army, is one of three Democrats in the race. He raised $3.5 million to challenge Greene in the deep-red district in 2024 but Greene, who’d raised nearly $9 million, still beat him by nearly 30 points. Harris now says he sees her resignation as an “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to flip the seat.

Jim Davis says he doesn’t fit in either the Democratic or Republican parties, though he’s running as a Democrat. He says his priorities are affordability and turning down the temperature in national politics.

Jonathan Hobbs calls himself “The Patent Wizard” on his LinkedIn page. He is a registered patent agent and works at boutique intellectual property firm in Atlanta.

Other parties

Rob “Rush” Ruszkowski, who is running as an independent, says he was inspired to run by “No Kings” protests happening across the country in June. Ruszkowski supports Medicare for All and breaking up big corporations. He’s also started the Gaia Knights, which he describes as a “band and movement.”

Andrew Underwood, the lone libertarian in the race, says he has “no faith in either of the two parties to help us.” He calls himself a “homegrown Georgian,” and his platform includes opposing government intervention in health care; supporting a moratorium on data centers because of privacy concerns; reforming the immigration system; and opposing tariffs.

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