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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s race for reelection in 2022 will be a ‘bloodbath’

‘She will be running against quality opposition,’ says district’s Democratic party chair

Gino Spocchia
Wednesday 24 February 2021 20:04 GMT
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Marjorie Taylor Greene says Republican party belongs to Trump

Marjorie Taylor Greene will encounter a “bloodbath” reelection contest against candidates from both parties, according to interviews with local political leaders’ about 2022.

David Boyle, a Democratic Party chairman, said the 2022 Republican primary for Georgia’s 14th congressional district seat, which Ms Greene won in November, was going to be a “bloodbath”.

"The middle-of-the-road traditional Republicans are tired of all of this craziness,” Mr Boyle told Insider of recent controversies. “They're going to put out strong candidates.”

While the Georgia congresswoman is expected to run again in 2022, multiple recent controversies have paved their way for Republican candidates — as well as Democrats — to challenge Ms Greene.

The controversies include sharing social media posts that called for congressional Democrats to be executed in the past, and claims the 2020 election was stolen, among other conspiracies.

When she won last year’s Republican primary with 56.8 per cent, defeating a more traditional conservative candidate, Dr John Cowan, party leaders appeared to play down similar reports — and she received Donald Trump’s backing.

She went on to denounce supporting past claims and the QAnon conspiracy in Congress last month, when she was stripped of her committee assignments by the House for the recent revelations.

Luke Martin, the Republican Party chair of Floyd County, added to Insider that he "would be shocked" if there wasn’t a challenge to Ms Greene from within her own party, after the criticism she received, which has thrust the Republican party and into the spotlight.

"I would be very surprised if some more-established Republican doesn't take another shot in the primary," added Vincent Olsziewski, a Democrat who organised the campaign for Ms Greene’s opponent in November, Kevin Van Ausdal.

After Mr Van Ausdal pulled out of the race, Ms Greene went on to win the congressional seat with 75 per cent of the vote, unchallenged.

And support for the congresswoman remains strong across the district, according to recent interviews carried out by Reuters, who were told by one resident: “She is radical, no doubt, but she is there to support me, radical or not.”

Democrats still believe they can turn around the vote in 2022, with Tim Shiflett, the district’s Democratic Party chair, telling Insider that "a lot of people" were talking about taking on Ms Greene.

"In the past, we've had to settle for maybe one person to run in this district, because they're basically acting as sacrificial lambs," he added. "Thanks to Marjorie Taylor Greene, that's not going to happen anymore. She will be running against quality opposition."

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