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Who has officially declared candidacy for Georgia's 14th Congressional District special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in 2026?
Executive summary
As of the available reporting and public records in the provided sources, multiple people have been mentioned as potential or declared candidates for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District in the 2026 cycle, but definitive, consolidated lists of officially qualified or FEC-filed candidates for the special election succeeding Marjorie Taylor Greene are incomplete in these sources (Ballotpedia, FEC, local reporting) [1] [2] [3]. Ballotpedia and local outlets list names who have run or filed in the 2026 race generally (e.g., Star Black) and reporting names several Republicans preparing or exploring runs (e.g., Christian Hurd, Star Black), but the FEC page for GA-14 notes its table only includes those who have registered and filed financial reports — and that data must be checked directly for current filings [1] [2] [4].
1. What “officially declared” means in this context — filings vs. announcements
There are three different milestones reporters use when saying a person is “running”: a public campaign announcement, filing qualifying paperwork with state election authorities (Georgia Secretary of State), and filing financial paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The FEC site for House GA-14 explicitly shows only candidates who have registered and filed federal financial reports; it does not show announced but non‑filed campaigns [2]. Ballotpedia compiles declared candidates and surveys but notes its methodology for inclusion [1]. For a special election, state qualifying rules and a separate governor-issued writ may create a compressed qualifying window — meaning “declared” in open reporting may not yet equal “qualified” on the ballot [3].
2. Names appearing in candidate lists and reporting
Ballotpedia’s 2026 GA‑14 pages include profiles such as Star Black among candidates for the 2026 general election and maintain a running list of people who have signaled interest, completed surveys, or been included by Ballotpedia’s criteria [1] [5]. Local reporting and regional outlets that covered Greene’s resignation and the likely special election have named Republicans who are exploring or preparing runs; for example, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that Star Black is running against Greene in the Republican primary and that Christian Hurd has formed an exploratory committee [4]. Atlanta News First and other Georgia outlets describe the procedural timeline and note that candidate qualifying windows are set by state officials — but they do not publish a finalized, official qualifying list in these articles [3] [6].
3. What the FEC database shows and its limits
The FEC’s 2026 GA-14 page exists and is the place to confirm federal candidate registrations and campaign finance filings; however, the FEC’s own note warns the table shows only those who have registered and filed financial reports [2]. The sources provided do not include a reproduced FEC candidate table listing which names have actually filed for GA‑14’s special or general 2026 contests; therefore, the presence or absence of a name in that FEC table cannot be asserted here without consulting the live FEC page [2].
4. How Greene’s resignation changes timing and candidate qualifying
Greene announced she will resign effective Jan. 5, 2026, triggering state rules that require the governor to issue a writ for a special election within 10 days of the vacancy; the special election must be at least 30 days after the writ and, if no candidate gets 50%, a runoff would be 28 days later [3] [6]. Local outlets project a likely March special election date and note qualifying windows for special elections are typically short — so more candidates could announce quickly and still may not yet appear in FEC or state qualifying lists in the sources provided [3].
5. Competing perspectives and reporting gaps
National outlets like Reuters, CNN and The Guardian framed Greene’s resignation and noted political fallout [7] [8] [9]. Local outlets emphasize the procedural mechanics and name potential local contenders but do not provide a single, authoritative roster of “officially declared” special-election candidates in the cited reporting [3] [4]. Ballotpedia aggregates declared candidates but indicates its list combines candidates for the 2026 cycle and cautions about methodology [1] [5]. Available sources do not mention a finalized, authoritative list of candidates who have completed Georgia’s qualifying process for the special election.
6. Practical next steps to confirm who is officially on the ballot
To get a definitive, current list of officially qualified candidates for the special election you should check [10] the Georgia Secretary of State’s “Qualifying Candidates / My Voter Page” qualifying lists once the governor issues the writ (the provided MVP page link exists but was not populated in these sources) [11], and [12] the live FEC candidate filings page for GA‑14 to see who has registered and filed federal finance reports [2]. Ballotpedia and local news outlets are useful aggregators and will update, but the state and FEC records are the legal sources for “official” qualification [1] [2] [3].
Limitations: The sources provided name individuals who have run, filed previously, or formed exploratory committees (e.g., Star Black, Christian Hurd) and point to the FEC and Georgia qualifying process — but they do not together provide a single, up‑to‑the‑minute authoritative list of people who have officially qualified for the special election ballot [1] [4] [2].