Colton Moore is continuing to hit the campaign trail hard after two prominent Republican endorsements and a record week of fundraising.
Despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement of former Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller last week, Moore has attracted endorsements from former Congressman Matt Gaetz and Kyle Rittenhouse over the past week.
“I think people understand,” Moore said by phone, “who Trump’s real defender is in Northwest Georgia.”
Moore has managed to raise $300,000 in campaign funds from grassroots donors without taking on loans, he said in a press release. Of that money, $80,000 has been raised in the past week, Moore said by phone.
“I represent the people of Georgia first and foremost,” Moore said. “It has really motivated the base in Northwest Georgia.”
The former Georgia state senator said he is campaigning at all hours of the day in the lead-up to the open ballot special election March 10 in the 14th Congressional District. A runoff election between the top two vote-getters is planned for April 7 if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.
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On Jan. 17, Moore received the endorsement of the Georgia Republican Assembly, a group of Republicans who agree on Republican principles to be enacted in office, according to a post by the organization Chair Alex Johnson on Facebook.
Georgia Republican Assembly members voted to endorse Moore after hearing from nine Republican candidates, including Fuller. Moore won 90% of the vote in the first ballot, according to a press release by the assembly.
Gaetz represented Florida’s western panhandle region from 2017 to November 2024. He resigned from Congress when Trump announced his intent to nominate Gaetz for attorney general. Gaetz eventually withdrew from consideration for that post.
During the 118th congressional session, Gaetz was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and acceptance of impermissible gifts, among other things.
After Gaetz resigned, the Ethics Committee announced it found substantial evidence of Gaetz paying women to engage in sexual activity, engaging in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl, using or possessing illegal drugs, and accepting lodging and transportation on a trip to the Bahamas, according to a report released by the committee.
Rittenhouse is known for advocating for Second Amendment rights after he was acquitted for shooting and killing two people and injuring one other in self-defense during civil unrest in 2020 in Wisconsin. He had been carrying an assault rifle in an attempt to protect local businesses.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District includes the counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker and Whitfield, and portions of Cobb county.
Contact Northwest Georgia reporter Ignacio Perez at iperez@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6710.