Controversial businesswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican primary runoff election for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District Tuesday night, all but guaranteeing her a seat in Congress representing the reliably Republican northwestern part of the state.
Greene, who owns a construction company, fended off criticism of her residence outside the district and her apparent support for the QAnon conspiracy theory in uncovered videos to claim victory over her Republican opponent, neurosurgeon and toy store owner John Cowan.
She goes on to face the lone Democratic candidate Kevin Van Ausdal, an implementation specialist, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Barring a loss in the November election, Greene is poised to replace five-term U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, who announced late last year he would not seek re-election to a sixth term in the 14th District, which stretches from Paulding and Haralson counties north through Rome, Calhoun and Dalton to the Tennessee line.
Originally signaling she would seek to challenge U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Roswell, for the metro Atlanta 6th Congressional District, Greene amassed a roughly $1.5 million campaign warchest in the 14th District race as she leaned heavily on pro-gun, anti-abortion and pro-President Donald Trump stances.
“The GOP establishment, the media and the radical left spent months and millions of dollars attacking me,” Greene said Tuesday night. “Tonight, the people of Georgia stood up and said that we will not be intimidated or believe those lies.”
Greene jolted into the national spotlight following her strong finish in the June 9 primary during which she won 40% of votes, not enough to avoid a runoff but nearly double the amount of the second-place finisher, Cowan.
Shortly after, Greene faced backlash over past online videos reported in the Washington Post and Politico in which she appeared to promote the anti-government conspiracy theory QAnon and dismiss the racial-justice underpinnings of the Black Lives Matter protest movement.
A slew of high-profile Republican leaders including Georgia’s Congressional delegation and U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., quickly soured on Greene following the media reports on her apparent embrace of the QAnon theory and other inflammatory comments.
In a debate last month ahead of Tuesday’s runoff, Greene did not answer a yes-or-no question on whether she believes in the QAnon theory, opting instead to condemn former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
She also voiced belief in the “deep state” theory concerning alleged conspiratorial acts by U.S. intelligence officials that have been discussed by many conservative media commentators.
“I, like many Americans, am disgusted with the deep state who’ve launched an effort to get rid of President Trump,” Greene said during the July 19 debate hosted by the Atlanta Press Club.
Greene staked her campaign on hardline conservative positions on immigration, gun-ownership rights, abortion opposition and denouncing Chinese trade practices. But most especially, she touted her staunch backing of the president.
“I’m 100% pro-life, 100% pro-gun, and I’m the strongest supporter of President Trump and always have been,” Greene said in a May debate.
Photo: Marjorie Taylor Greene (right) attends a protest over impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump in Sandy Springs on Oct. 9, 2019. (Photo by Beau Evans)
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