With Republican 14th District U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigning on January 5th, various contenders will be competing in a special election to fill the northwestern Georgia seat. The crowded field will probably result in a runoff election if no one garners a majority vote.
Two notable challengers already had filed with the Federal Election Commission before Greene announced: Star Black, a business owner and retired FEMA official, and Jeff Criswell, a businessman who owns a sports memorabilia store in metro Atlanta. Black has lived in the Kennesaw portion of the district for nearly two decades, according to Atlanta First News. Criswell was the unsuccessful Republican nominee against Democrat U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in the 2024 election.
Jim Tully, chairman of the 14th District GOP and one of Greene’s top field operatives, says he’ll run for the seat. And black Republican Elvis Casely, a former sales professional and actor, has filed to run on a platform focused on consumer protection and family policy.
More candidates are considering running
Several other potential candidates are considering entering the race. A big name is state Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome. She recently had an audience at the White House and told this writer she is “prayerfully considering whether to run.” Other possible contenders include Dalton City Councilman Nicky Lama and conservative District Attorney Clay Fuller of the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit.
But it is state Sen. Colton Moore, a Republican from Trenton, who has the best name recognition— for better or worse. He was arrested in the state Capitol in January for “attempting to disrupt official proceedings” outside the House Chamber ahead of the State of the State address, even “push[ing] into Troopers multiple times,” the Georgia Department of Public Safety alleges.
“Despite multiple verbal warnings and several attempts to de-escalate the situation, Senator Moore persisted in his attempts to disrupt official proceedings inside the House Chamber,” the DPS release said at the time. Moore was charged with willful obstruction of law enforcement officers. However, witnesses and videos show Moore was also thrown to the floor by an aide to the House speaker.
Some Republicans view the crowded field as potentially problematic. “The concern some Republicans have raised is purely practical,” one insider says. “When an incumbent leaves their seat to run for another office, it can trigger a domino effect. Other officeholders may jump into that race, which opens their seats, and suddenly you have multiple seats exposed at once. The risk isn’t about any one candidate; the risk is losing seats in the chaos.”
Colton Moore & the divisive Rep. Thomas Massie
Then there is another controversial issue involving Moore that concerns President Donald Trump and his prominent Georgia allies. James Magazine Online has received screenshots of now-deleted posts showing Moore with U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., including a public endorsement from Massie. Moore is portraying himself as the natural Trump/MAGA candidate, but the Massie connection contradicts that. And right now there is no one in the U.S. House of Representatives GOP Caucus that Trump is more committed to defeating than Massie.
Bottom line: Trump allies openly say the last thing Trump (or House Speaker Mike Johnson) wants is to see Greene replaced by a disciple of the rogue Kentucky congressman who is prone to attack Republicans even more than Democrats. He is not a GOP team player. That should kill any chance of a Trump endorsement.
Yet even without Trump support, Moore would be a major contender. And Trump sources emphasize that the most viable Republican candidate to get into a runoff and capture the seat will be the candidate the president endorses.
