A special election will be held in Georgia’s 14th congressional district following the resignation of former Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
The seat will become vacant on Jan. 5, 2026, when Greene officially steps down from her seat in the House of Representatives.
“Unlike vacancies in the U.S. Senate, federal law does not permit the state executive (usually the governor) to temporarily fill the position prior to an election,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Instead, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is required to call for a special election within 10 days of the vacancy. The election must be held at least 30 days after that.
All candidates vying for the vacant House seat would appear on one ballot in the special election. If none of the candidates receive more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held for the two top candidates.
The winner of the special election will finish the rest of Greene’s term, which ends on Jan. 3, 2027.
Greene has served in the House seat since 2021.
Greene’s resignation will narrow the already slim Republican majority in the House to 218 over the Democrats’ 213 seats.
The longtime Trump supporter said she was prompted to step down from her House seat due to the possibility of facing a Trump-backed Republican primary challenger and the Democrats’ potential takeover of the lower chamber in next year’s midterm elections.
Residents in her district said this week that Greene and Trump would overcome their rift and expressed support for both of them.
But Greene said that she didn’t want to put her constituents through an ugly election.
“I have too much self respect and dignity, love my family way too much, and do not want my sweet district to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the President we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms,” Greene said.
Even if she won, Greene said she would likely be stuck in the House minority in the next Congress and would have to defend Trump during impeachment proceedings, a situation she described as “absurd.”
Trump on Saturday acknowledged that Greene would have “no chance of winning” if she ran for reelection.
Greene’s relationship with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has often voted against the Republican party, “didn’t help her,” according to Trump.
Her exit from Congress marks a stunning turn of events in her relationship with the president.
The Georgia Republican went from being one of Trump’s closet allies and a loyal supporter of his agenda to having a public fallout with the president over the release of the Epstein files and other matters. Ultimately, Greene said she believes Congress has largely been “sidelined” since Trump took his second term in office in January.
Despite his criticism of Greene, Trump thanked her for her tenure in Washington.
Reuters contributed to this report.
