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Which candidates have declared for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District special or regular election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Executive summary
As of available reporting, several people who ran in 2024 or have publicly signaled interest are named as potential or declared candidates for the 14th District special and 2026 regular contests after Marjorie Taylor Greene said she will resign effective Jan. 5, 2026; the state’s special election likely will be held in March with all candidates on one ballot and a runoff if no one gets 50% [1] [2]. Known names in reporting and candidate lists include incumbent-turned-vacant-seat players such as Shawn Harris (Democrat, ran in 2024 and has launched a campaign), and multiple Republican figures and filings are identified in encyclopedic listings and the special-election page [3] [2] [4].
1. What the law and timetable will mean — “one ballot” March special likely
Georgia law for congressional vacancies means a special election is an open contest on one ballot with a top-two runoff if nobody exceeds 50 percent; local reporting says the special to replace Greene will “probably happen in March” after her Jan. 5 resignation [2] [5]. Atlanta News First frames the timing as probable rather than finalized and notes qualifying windows are typically short and set to allow ballot printing and absentee processing [5]. Hindustan Times likewise summarizes that primaries for the 2026 midterms remain scheduled for May, meaning the special could precede the regular primary calendar [6].
2. Clear frontrunner and incumbency context — seat open, not yet filled
Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she will resign in January 2026, creating a vacancy for the remainder of the 119th Congress; the special election winner would serve until Jan. 3, 2027 [2] [7]. Reporting emphasizes the political salience: Greene’s high profile and her break with President Trump are central to why the seat is now open and why national interest has spiked [8] [9].
3. Democrats: Shawn Harris has declared and is running again
Retired Army Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris, the Democratic nominee in 2024 and the candidate who “got more votes than any Democrat in this district in over a decade,” has publicly launched a campaign to replace Greene and is named in multiple outlets as a declared challenger [3] [10]. Fox 5 Atlanta and other local outlets reported Harris anticipated the possibility and was prepared to run again when Greene announced her resignation [10].
4. Republicans and filed candidates: several names in encyclopedias and filings
Encyclopedic listings and the special-election Wikipedia page list multiple Republicans who are running or have filed for the 14th district special or the 2026 regular contest; examples include state Senator Colton Moore and Jason Anavitarte (majority leader of the Georgia State Senate), as well as other figures referenced in candidate lists and 2026 coverage [4] [2]. Wikipedia’s special-election page explicitly lists a field of potential and declared candidates, but local reporting stresses the list may change during qualifying [2] [5].
5. What reporting does — and does not — confirm about “declared” status
Internet encyclopedias and Ballotpedia provide named candidate lists for 2026 contests and note officials who have “filed to run,” but local outlets caution that qualifying windows and official state qualifying lists (Georgia Secretary of State My Voter Page) are the authoritative record and may not be fully updated in secondary sources [11] [12]. Available sources do not mention a complete, final qualifying list from the Georgia SOS in these search results; for the final, authoritative roster check the Secretary of State’s Qualifying Candidates page [12].
6. Competing narratives and political stakes
National outlets frame Greene’s resignation as both a local vacancy and a symptom of wider GOP tensions: The New York Times and other outlets tie her exit to a rift with Donald Trump and portray the resignation as evidence of divisions in the MAGA movement, while local reporting centers on the practical timing and likely March special election [8] [5]. Some outlets (Newsweek, AP) highlight speculation about Greene’s future plans and broader political consequences; others focus strictly on who will run to replace her [13] [7].
7. What readers should watch next
Watch for Gov. Brian Kemp’s formal call for a special election and the Georgia Secretary of State’s official qualifying list to confirm who has formally filed—the March timing remains likely but not finalized in the pieces cited [5] [6]. Also follow Ballotpedia and the special-election Wikipedia page for updates; those pages list candidates but depend on filings and news reports and therefore should be cross-checked with the official Georgia SOS roster [14] [2] [12].
Limitations: this summary uses news articles and public encyclopedic pages that list names and likely timing; official qualifying filings and the governor’s formal announcement (not found in the current reporting set) will be the authoritative sources for who is officially on the ballot [12] [5].