Early voting is underway across the state and a crowded field of Republican candidates are vying for their party’s nomination for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District in the June 9 Primary. The winner will face Democrat Kevin Van Ausdel in the November 3 General Election to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Graves, who has been the district’s only representative in the U.S. House.
Graves announced that he would not be seeking re-election.
Georgia’s 14th Congressional District covers the northwest corner of the state, taking in the city of Rome and including Gordon, Paulding and Polk counties. It was created after the 2010 census awarded Georgia another congressional district to accommodate its growth in population. It is considered a Republican stronghold.
Being called one of the most competitive congressional races in the state, there are nine candidates running in the Republican primary. Some of the candidates’ names are familiar throughout the district, while other lesser known candidates are still working to gain name recognition among voters.
The crowd includes State Rep. Kevin Cooke (R-Carrollton), former state rep Bill Hembree, construction executive Marjorie Taylor Greene, neurosurgeon John Cowan, and former Georgia School Superintendent John Barge. Also in the race is prosecutor Clayton Fuller, who has largely self-financed his own campaign while he is deployed with the Georgia Air National Guard, responding to the pandemic. Others in the race are Ken Bullock (an Air Force veteran), Andy Gunther, and Matt Laughridge.
Two of the candidates got in the 14th District race after first campaigning in another district. Greene originally ran in the 6th Congressional District, but her campaign team says she is now living within the 14th District. Bullock first campaigned in the 7th Congressional District race and says he has now relocated to Paulding County.
In campaign finance reports covering through the end of March, the nine candidates reported around $3 million in combined fundraising. Bullock, Cooke, Cowan, Greene, and Hembree have led in endorsements or fundraising.
Eight of the Republican candidates took part in a virtual town hall debate recently. Fuller was not able to participate in the debate because he is deployed with the National Guard.
