Democratic voters in Georgia have chosen their candidate to face off against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a tall task as Greene’s seat is in a solidly red district that hasn’t elected a Democrat since being created in 2013.
Shawn Harris defeated Clarence Blalock in the runoff election on Tuesday after garnering 71.5% of the vote with 34% of ballots tallied. The Associated Press called the race at 7:21 p.m., less than a half hour after polls closed.
The victory comes after Blalock initially defeated Harris in the state’s primary election last month by just 124 votes. However, the race was pushed into a runoff election after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote, leading to Harris’s victory in a narrower field.
Despite Greene’s advantage in the district, Harris has sought to call into question her legislative legacy on Capitol Hill as a way to persuade voters to vote her out of office.
“This race right now is in a situation where the district’s Democrats, Republicans, and independents are actually now truly looking at Marjorie Taylor Greene and saying, ‘she has been up there for three and a half years. What has she actually done for the district?’” Harris told the Washington Blade. “She hates every Democrat that walks the face of the earth, and on top of that, she doesn’t have anything that she can stand on that says what she’s actually done here inside the district — so we have a clear path to actually beat her.”
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But the Democratic challenger will face an uphill battle against Greene in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, as it is rated as a solidly Republican seat. The district has been rated R+22 in the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
