Two conservative Georgia districts choose GOP House nominees

Election officials sort absentee ballots, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Voters in Georgia return to the polls Tuesday for runoffs to settle party nominations in four congressional races and 17 legislative races, as well as a closely watched contest for who will claim the Democratic nod for district attorney in Fulton County. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal and Constitution via AP) Election officials sort absentee ballots, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020, in Atlanta. Voters in Georgia return to the polls Tuesday for runoffs to settle party nominations in four congressional races and 17 legislative races, as well as a closely watched contest for who will claim the Democratic nod for district attorney in Fulton County. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal and Constitution via AP)

By JEFF AMY / The Associated Press August 12, 2020 6 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – Republicans in two conservative north Georgia districts chose nominees to Congress on Tuesday, with voters in northwest Georgia’s 14th district embracing construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene despite warnings from establishment Republicans about her support of conspiracy theories and racist remarks. But Republicans in northeast Georgia’s 9th District chose gun dealer and Navy veteran Andrew Clyde, spurning anti-establishment rebel and state Rep. Matt Gurtler. Democrats also choose nominees in the 9th District and in coastal Georgia’s 1st District. A challenger beat Fulton County’s district attorney in a Democratic runoff and two Democratic state House members were trying to keep their jobs, with a total of 17 state legislative races on the ballot.

14TH DISTRICT REPUBLICANS

Construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican nomination in northwest Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. Greene led a nine-way June primary and beat Rome neurosurgeon John Cowan on Tuesday. Greene’s victory came despite national criticism over her support for conspiracy theories, her racist and anti-Semitic remarks, and opposition by some high-profile Republicans. A vocal Donald Trump supporter, Greene said she ran for Congress to defend the country against socialists, protesters and those who tear down Confederate monuments.