Clay Fuller won a runoff election Tuesday night to claim the House seat left vacant by Marjorie Taylor Greene in northwest Georgia, easily defeating Democrat Shawn Harris in a district that has remained firmly Republican despite efforts to flip it.
The race turned partly on foreign policy. Fuller backs military intervention in Iran, while Harris opposed it, hoping the disagreement would resonate with voters in the rural counties that dominate the district. The strategy did not work.
The Associated Press called the election as results began flowing in from the northwestern region, with Fuller's margin making clear the Republican hold on the seat would persist. Greene previously represented the district before moving to run for her current seat elsewhere.
The outcome underscores the durability of Republican advantages in certain pockets of the country, even as Democrats wage targeted campaigns to shift political representation in conservative areas. Harris's opposition to Iran intervention was intended to offer voters a distinct choice, but the district's electoral leanings proved more decisive than the policy difference.
Fuller's victory keeps the seat in Republican hands and adds another chapter to Greene's political legacy in the region. The runoff was necessary to determine who would fill the remainder of Greene's term, and Republican control never appeared seriously in doubt as voting took place.
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