Trump's Own Party LOSES Georgia Election LIVE After Shock Republican COLLAPSE

Welcome back. If it's Wednesday, we have election results. The Trump-endorsed Republican Clay Fuller defeated Democrat Shawn Harris in Georgia's deep red 14th Congressional District in a special election to replace former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green. Fuller's victory gives Republicans a little more padding on their house majority, which is very narrow, but the results are also potential warning sign for the GOP. Democrats cut into the Republican margin of victory by a massive amount compared to the 2024 presidential election. Welcome back. I am Maria. Tonight we are going deep on the race to replace Marjorie Taylor Green. Why a retired Army General from a cattle farm might actually make Republicans sweat in one of the safest seats in the state, and what this little district is telling us about where the country is actually heading. Let us get into it. Before we can understand this race, we need to understand what happened to the person who used to hold this seat, Marjorie Taylor Green. Love her or hate her, and most people land pretty firmly in one camp. She was one of the most recognizable members of Congress. The kind of politician who made international news just by posting something on social media. She won her district in 2024 with 64% of the vote. Not competitive, not close, a landslide. And then she resigned. Not because she was forced out, not because of a traditional scandal. She resigned because she had a very public, very messy falling out with Donald Trump himself. The same president she had been one of the loudest, most visible supporters of. The same man whose endorsement she had built much of her political identity around. And here is the part that gets genuinely interesting. On Easter Sunday, just days before the special election runoff, Green posted something on X that I had to read twice. She wrote, "Stop worshipping the president and intervene in Trump's madness. I know all of you and him, and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit." That is not a fringe critic. That is not a Democrat. That is the woman who held the seat for 4 years, who won it by nearly 30 points, calling the sitting president insane and accusing his entire inner circle of complicity. You can debate what drove Green to that point. The Iran situation, spending disagreements, personal grievances, probably all of it at once. But the political consequence is clear. The seat she held is now open, and the Republican party is scrambling to hold on. Ahead of Tuesday's special runoff in Georgia to replace Marjorie Taylor Green, the former Congresswoman had some choice words for President Trump's allies amid his escalating rhetoric toward Iran. Green wrote on X this morning, quote, "Stop worshipping the president and intervene in Trump's madness. I know all of you and him, and he has gone insane, and all of you are complicit." Green resigned from her seat in January following a public split with Trump. On Tuesday, Trump-endorsed Republican Clayton Fuller, a former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, who is facing off against Democrat Shawn Harris. And retired Army Brigadier General Shawn Harris joins us now. So, General, [laughter] you're running in a very deep red district. Cook Political Report even called it the most GOP district in all of Georgia, and last time you ran against Green, she won by nearly 30 points, and Trump won, too, 37 over Kamala Harris. So, you really got an uphill battle here. What has been your message to the district as to why you should occupy the seat? Yeah, first let me just say happy Easter to everybody. Uh you know, the reality I'll tell you is exactly right. I ran against Marjorie Taylor Green last time. We came in second. There's no second place trophies, but a lot has changed since then. As you just said, Marjorie Taylor Green and Donald Trump has had a major divorce, and that divorce that divorce is still going on as we speak. The person that I'm running against right now is weak because he sold his soul to Donald Trump, and he can't say anything about this war of choice that we're in. He can't say anything about the cost of living. He can't push back on anything. And everybody here in Northwest Georgia, Democrats, independents, and yes, Republicans, are coalescing behind me, and come on come Tuesday, you're going to see we're going to flip this seat. How much of General Harris, how much of the how much is the war in Iran impacting what your constituents are telling you down there in that district? Yeah, you know, the reality is they talk about two things, and they talk about it in two different ways. One, you know, in the rural community, many of kids and grandkids going to the military to get a leg up. So, they many of our many of people in my district actually have kids that are in the military. Some are actually part of that 50,000 that's over there in the Middle East. So, they're concerned that way. But what's really affecting us is actually when it comes to the everyday costs. My district, the number one industry is agriculture. I'm a cattle farmer, and it's affecting us when it comes to the price of diesel, but also when it comes to the price of fertilizer. It's killing us right now, and so that's what's the biggest issue right now is they're saying, "Mr. Harris, or Shawn, or General, whatever they want to call me." They say, "Look, go to DC. Please address these things and bring down costs." >> Here's what makes it even more complicated. Georgia's 14th does not have a traditional party primary for this special election. The March race was a 21-candidate free-for-all. 21 candidates, and 16 of them were Republicans. Think about that. 16 Republicans splitting the same voter base in one of the most Republican districts in Georgia, while the Democrats ran one unified candidate. The Republican chair of the district actually came out and said publicly that they could end up with a Democrat as their congressman. Not a Democrat saying that, the chair of the local Republican party. So, after that March chaos shook out, the race narrowed to a runoff between two candidates. On one side, Clayton Fuller, on the other, Shawn Harris. Fuller is a former lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. Military background, Republican through and through, and he has Donald Trump's endorsement in a district that voted for Trump by 37 points. That endorsement should be the end of the conversation, the whole ball game done. But Fuller has a problem, and it is the same quiet problem a lot of Trump-endorsed candidates are dealing with right now. He has positioned himself so tightly to the president that he cannot push back on anything. Not the war with Iran, not the cost of living numbers that do not match what people are actually experiencing, not the economic data that is starting to look very different from what the White House is saying. He is, as his opponent puts it, fully sold to Donald Trump. Now, let us talk about the other candidate, because Shawn Harris is a genuinely fascinating figure in this race. Harris is a retired Army Brigadier General. He is also a cattle farmer from the district. And when I say he is from the district, I mean he is of the district. He knows what diesel costs, what fertilizer costs, what it takes to keep a farm running, because he pays those bills himself every month. He ran against Green last time and lost by nearly 30 points, and he came back anyway. Here is what he said on air about what people stop him to talk about. They are not talking about ideology. They are not talking about culture wars or party affiliation. They are talking about the farm bill, health care access in a region that does not have enough of it, and kids in the military, because some of those kids are part of the 50,000 United States troops currently stationed in the Middle East right now. 50,000 troops. And in a rural district where going into the military is often the best path to a better life, when the president makes decisions about war, it is personal. It is their kids. Harris put it plainly. He said the people in his district, Democrats, independents, and yes, Republicans, are coalescing behind him. He also said something worth paying attention to. He called Fuller Green 2.0. Then he pointed out that Marjorie Taylor Green herself, after her resignation, now sounds a lot like him. She is talking about health care costs. She is talking about cost of living. She is calling the Iran conflict a war of choice, the same positions Harris has held this entire campaign. If your opponent now agrees with the Democrat, what exactly are you offering voters? Here is where this story gets bigger than Georgia's 14th District, much bigger. Since Donald Trump took office in January, there have been 26 special elections for legislative seats across the country. Democrats have flipped all 26 of those seats. They have won every single one. Now, some of those were already competitive seats. You would expect the out party to pick some of those up in a normal cycle, that standard midterm opposition energy. But then you look at Texas. There was a Texas State Senate special election just recently. Trump won that district by 17 points. It should not be a Democratic-leaning district. The Democrat running was badly outspent, and she won by 14 points. Do that math. A district that went Republican by 17 points becomes Democratic by 14. That is a 31-point swing in Texas. Political analysts will tell you a five swing in a special election is significant. 10 points is dramatic. 31 points in a Texas State Senate race during an off-cycle means something structural is happening. This is not just enthusiasm. This is not just energy. Voters are sending a specific message, and repeating it over and over across different states. And the underlying numbers explain exactly why Trump's approval on the economy is now underwater by 18 points. On cost of living specifically, it is underwater by 29 points. 29 points. And this is the same president who stood in his Iran address and told the country the economy has zero inflation. Zero inflation. Meanwhile, the average price of gas across the United States has surged past $4 a gallon. That is the biggest surge in 6 years. In what is fast shaping up as one of the more fascinating races of the midterms, the Republican chair of Georgia's 14th District has a stunning warning that there are too many candidates in the race to replace Marjorie Taylor Green, and quote, "We could end up with a Democrat as our congressman." With no party primary to narrow the field, the March 10th special election will be a 21-candidate free-for-all, and 16 of those candidates are Republicans, making an April runoff very likely. Jim Messina's back with us. Sam Stein is managing editor for The Bulwark and an MS Now contributor. Um let's remind folks, Jim, uh Greene won her district with 64% of the vote in 2024, but is this a real opportunity for the Democrats? It absolutely could be, Kristen. You look at kind of what's happened in the 26 elections in legislative races around America since Donald Trump became office, Democrats have won all 26 flipped seats. In uh Texas this weekend or last weekend in a state Senate election where Donald Trump won by 17 points, the Democrat who was badly outspent won by 14 points. That's a 31% swing. We've just never seen numbers like this. And so, if I was the Republicans, I would fear this. Should Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat be in play in a normal election? No, that's a rock-ribbed Republican seat. Um but the fact is there's something moving out there, and partially it's led by Donald Trump's own numbers. You know, his numbers on the economy are now uh underwater by 18 points and on cost of living by 29 points. And voters use these special elections as a way to send a message to the president. Uh and the message they're sending right now is they are very unhappy. Well, Sam, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution actually reports interviews with more than a dozen Republicans across the district show a party on edge, worried that Georgia's fast-moving contest, voter fatigue, lingering unease over Trump, and most of all, a fractured GOP field and a strong Democratic contender could put even this seat at risk. How do you see it? And and I wonder if you think this anxiety is reflective of how Republicans are feeling even beyond Georgia. Well, there's definitely anxiety that extends well beyond Georgia. Jim's right. Uh all these special election results, including the most recent one in Texas, uh have shown that there's a wild disparity in terms of voter enthusiasm. Part of it is because uh if you are a Republican right now, uh what are your motivating factors, right? Uh you hold power uh federally, uh the economy's not going as well as you thought it would. Uh the main issues that Trump is emphasizing are immigration and cost of living, and neither of those are trending in the right direction according to public opinion polls. So, Democrats are more motivated. Uh tends to be the case when the party's in the other uh from the other when the person in power is from the other party. Uh but the other thing here is to look at especially in the in in the Marjorie Taylor Greene These are the actual concerns of actual people living in northwest Georgia. It is not a partisan platform. It is what people talk about when someone knocks on their door. And here is the uncomfortable reality for the Republican Party. Their own former congresswoman, the woman who won this seat by 30 points, is now one of the loudest voices publicly calling the current president insane. She said it with her name attached. And she has nothing left to lose, which means she is going to keep saying it. That kind of break has a ripple effect through the Republican voter base. People in this district watched Greene endorse Trump. They watched her champion him for years, and now they watch her call him insane. That plants doubt, not just about Trump, but about the whole narrative the party has been selling. If the most committed Trump-aligned congresswoman in Georgia could not stay in the tent, what does that say about the tent itself? Meanwhile, Mike Johnson in the House has been canceling congressional sessions repeatedly because he keeps losing floor votes. The Epstein files, discharge petition, spending bills, and now the Iran war itself has become an economic anxiety issue in agricultural districts that have historically been completely safe Republican territory. The speaker of the House cannot guarantee that his own members vote the way he needs them to. That is not a governing majority acting from a position of strength. Here is something the political analyst tracking this race said that I think is critical and gets lost in the horse race headlines. Republicans do not need to lose this seat for this to be a disaster. They just need to come close to losing it. If a district that voted for Trump by 37 points swings 15 or 20 points toward a Democrat, and you apply that kind of shift to seats where Republicans currently hold eight or 10-point margins, you are suddenly looking at potential losses in races that nobody has on their radar right now. Races that are supposed to be safe. Races where incumbents are not even worried yet. That is why the Republican chair of Georgia's 14th district made that public warning about potentially losing to a Democrat. It was not just about this one seat. It was about what the margin here signals to every other race on the board. There is also a structural problem underneath all of this. Democrats are more motivated right now. That is measurable in special election turnout data. The opposition party almost always energizes when the other side holds the White House. But what makes this moment different is that Republican voters are also showing lower enthusiasm. Not everywhere, not uniformly, but in enough places that the gap is showing up repeatedly. When your own voters are not showing up with the same energy they had 18 months ago, and your opponents are showing up more energized than ever, you have a math problem. And math problems have a way of becoming very real very fast when the ballots are counted. All right. This is the part of the show where I give you my honest read, Paul's Corner. Here is the truth about this race and what it represents. The Republican Party is currently governing from a position that requires voters to believe things their own daily experience is contradicting. Gas is over $4. Fertilizer costs are rising. Kids from rural districts are deployed in the Middle East in an escalating conflict. And the official message from Washington is zero inflation and everything is under control. That gap between the official message and lived reality is exactly the space that candidates like Shawn Harris can walk through. He is not winning on ideology. He is winning, or at least competing, on authenticity. He is a cattle farmer paying the same diesel prices as the people he is asking to vote for him. That is a different kind of credibility than a campaign ad or a presidential endorsement. Can he actually win in a district that is this Republican? It is a steep climb. That 37-point margin is real and it matters. But the 31-point Texas swing is also real. These numbers do not lie. Here is where I land. Win or lose, if Harris comes within 15 points of Fuller in Georgia's 14th, that is a five-alarm fire for the Republican Party heading into the next cycle. Not a warning signal, a fire alarm. And the people who should be most concerned about it are not Democrats. They are the Republicans sitting in seats that are only slightly less red than this one. I am Maria. 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