Despite Republican victory, Democrats see hope in Georgia special election results before midterms

Clay Fuller's victory in Tuesday's runoff election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene has kept the seat in Republican hands, but Georgia Democrats are seeing some encouraging signs in how the vote played out.

Fuller, a former district attorney and Air National Guard veteran, beat retired general Shawn Harris in Georgia's 14th Congressional District in a runoff after the two secured the most votes in a previous special election.

Fuller won by around 12 percentage points over Harris. That is a dramatic drop from two years ago, when Greene won by 29 percentage points, and President Trump carried the district by almost 37 percentage points.

The shrunken vote gap in Georgia, as well as other special election victories by Democrats in other states, had some in the Peach State looking with interest at the midterms and future votes in November.

"That's a red alarm for Republicans," said Democratic strategist Meredith Brasher.

Jackie Harling, the district's Republican chairwoman, said she believed that Greene's resignation energized Democrats while her party is suffering from "election fatigue."

"Marjorie Taylor Greene was like a freight train that you couldn't stop, and when she pulled out, it gave Democrats hope, and it gave them a shot at winning something they believed was unwinnable," Harling said.

Greene reacted to Tuesday's margin on a post on X, saying that she knew the district wouldn't flip, but that "the results speak for themselves."

"Trump flipping MAGA from America First to America Last, covering up for the Epstein files, and betraying key campaign promises of no more foreign wars has been the best help for the Democrats," Greene wrote. "Sad!"

Fuller has pushed back on that narrative, calling his win a "dominating performance" that defeated the Democrats' best chance to keep him out of the seat.

"The left did their best. They poured in millions upon millions of dollars," Fuller told reporters. "And what you're seeing is the best that they can accomplish."

Mr. Trump also celebrated Fuller's victory, posting on Truth Social that he "won convincingly, and right from the beginning," despite what he called a "stench" from Greene's time in Congress.

"Congratulations to Clay Fuller, a very large improvement over his deranged predecessor," the president wrote.

A possible political rematch in Georgia's future

Fuller's victory means he will serve out the rest of Greene's term — a relatively short time in office. He will then run again in his party's primary on May 19. Nine other Republicans have qualified to run in the primary, which means it could go to a June 19 runoff.

Harris also qualified to run in the Democratic primary, the only candidate who did. That means it is possible that the two will be once again against each other on the ballot in November.

Outside of the North Georgia race, both Democrats and Republicans are wondering what the results may mean for other key races in the state this year, including an open contest for the governor's office. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is trying to defend his seat as well.

There's reason to think that simmering discontent could boomerang on Republicans just two years after Trump harnessed voters' anger with his comeback presidential campaign.

In November, Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents in statewide races for seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities. Rising electricity rates have been a fault line in recent campaigns, especially as enormous data centers are built to power artificial intelligence.

But Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey is trying to maintain modest expectations.

"We could cement ourselves, put ourselves, on the slightly bluer side of purple," he said. "We're not going to overnight turn into Colorado."

The Associated Press and CBS News contributed to this report.