Clay Fuller wins Trump-endorsed Georgia House seat by 12 points
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- Clay Fuller won Georgia's 14th Congressional District special election by about 12 points with almost all votes counted, a notable slip from the 29-point margin Greene posted two years ago and the 37-point spread Trump carried the district by in the same cycle.
- Fuller credited Trump's staying power, telling supporters "They couldn't beat Donald Trump and they never will," while the president had endorsed the district attorney in February to succeed Greene.
- The race added to a string of 2025 special elections where Democrats overperformed expectations, with Fuller's opponent Shawn Harris — a retired general and cattle farmer who calls himself a "dirt-road Democrat" — framing the result as a "stepping stone" to November's midterms.
- Trump's Iran rhetoric shadowed the vote: the president set an 8 p.m. Tuesday ultimatum for Iran — one hour after Georgia polls closed — warning "a whole civilization will die tonight," then announced a two-week ceasefire to allow negotiations to continue.
- Some Republican voters broke with Trump on the war; Acworth resident Jason McGinty said he feared Trump was "about to go too far" and "may be committing a war crime," yet voted Fuller to "make sure the America First party is still in place."
- Greene's resignation followed her public split with Trump over his foreign policy and his reluctance to release Jeffrey Epstein documents; the president said he'd back a primary challenge, and she announced her resignation a week later.
- Fuller's hold is temporary: he must win a May 19 Republican primary and potentially a June 16 runoff for a full two-year term, while the House now sits at 217 Republicans, 214 Democrats, and one independent.
Why it matters: Fuller's 12-point win in a district Trump carried by 37 points gives Republicans the seat but shows the drag Democrats are banking on for November: even deep-red voters uneasy about Trump's Iran war footing can shrink margins by 17-25 points. The Wisconsin Supreme Court double-digit liberal win the same night reinforces that special-election signal.
