President Donald Trump is set to make an appearance on Thursday in Rome, Georgia, where he will deliver remarks on the economy. It’s one of four U.S. congressional districts in Georgia where a Republican incumbent is leaving their seat.
Early voting has started in the March 10 special election for the 14th Congressional District, which includes Rome, after former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene vacated her seat in January due to rifts with the Trump administration.
Trump has already endorsed Clay Fuller, the district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit in northwest Georgia, in the crowded 18-person race that includes 13 Republicans, three Democrats, one Libertarian and one Independent.
Three other Republican members of the U.S. House from Georgia are stepping away from Washington or seeking a spot in the Senate.
They’re joining a total of more than 50 incumbents who have announced departures from the House before the 2026 election cycle — the highest rate since 1992, per the Brookings Institution.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
In November 2025, Greene announced she would vacate her seat, saying she’s “always been despised by Washington, D.C.” for representing the “common” American.
She made reference to her disagreements with Trump over U.S. aid to Israel and the release of records from federal investigations into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, which led the president to call her a “traitor” to the Republican Party.
Related story: The race is on to replace former US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in northwest Georgia district
“Loyalty should be a two-way street, and we should be able to vote our conscience and represent our district’s interests because our job title is literally ‘representative,’” she said in a video announcement. “America First should mean America First and only Americans first, with no other foreign country ever being attached to America First in our halls of government.”
“Standing up for American women who were raped at 14 years old, trafficked and used by rich, powerful men, should not result in me being called a traitor and threatened by the president of the United States, whom I fought for,” she added.
Given the number of candidates running in the March 10 special election, there will likely be a runoff on April 7. Whoever wins the election will still need to run in the 2026 midterms to keep the seat.
Barry Loudermilk
On Feb. 4, Republican U.S. Rep. Loudermilk, who represents Georgia’s 11th Congressional District, announced he was resigning to focus on his family and other commitments.
“I believe it is time to contribute to my community, state, and nation in other ways,” he said in a statement.
“I have learned throughout my life that doing what is right is not always easy, convenient, or popular. My wife and I have prayed diligently and discussed this extensively; and, while this is not an easy decision, we believe it is the right one. While serving my constituents in Congress ranks among my greatest honors, being a husband, a father, and a grandfather holds even greater importance to me; and at this time, I wish to spend more dedicated time with my family,” he added.
The 11th Congressional District covers a region northwest of Atlanta, including Marietta, Cartersville, Canton, Woodstock, Adairsville and Jasper. The district has been decidedly Republican, and Loudermilk has won comfortable majorities in his past reelection campaigns.
As a U.S. representative, he’s leading the congressional subcommittee into the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and has previously accused former Democratic U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of witness tampering while she served on the House select committee to investigate Jan. 6.
FILE – Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., speaks during a House Committee on House Administration hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Loudermilk previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2005 to 2010 and the Georgia Senate from 2011 to 2013.
Nearly 10 candidates have already thrown their hats in the ring for this year’s election, with more possibly joining the race before the March 6 filing deadline.
Georgia Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, who is a Republican, announced Tuesday that she is not seeking reelection to the PSC, a five-member body regulating utilities in Georgia. Instead, she’s considering a run for the 11th Congressional District, which she previously lost in 2014 without making it to a runoff.
The primary election is May 19, and the primary runoff is June 16. The general election is on Nov. 3.
Buddy Carter and Mike Collins
Both U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia’s 1st Congressional District and U.S. Rep. Mike Collins of the 10th District are running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, the Republican Party’s favorite to challenge Ossoff, announced in May 2025 that he would not run for U.S. Senate. A few days later, Carter announced his bid for Senate, followed by Collins in July.
U.S. Rep. Mike Collins speaks at a Senate campaign event on Aug. 19, 2025, in Jackson, Ga. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File)
Though both Carter and Collins have branded their campaigns as staunchly pro-Trump, the president has not endorsed anyone in the Senate race in Georgia.
Additionally, neither have received endorsements from Kemp, who has instead endorsed former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, a political outsider lacking the congressional experience that Carter and Collins have.
The family of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who a Venezuelan man has been convicted of killing, has endorsed Collins for his work in reintroducing the Laken Riley Act. The bill was the first that Trump signed into law during his second administration, and it requires federal officials to detain migrants charged with crimes like shoplifting.
Carter, who has referred to himself as a “MAGA warrior,” has been a staunch defender of recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions in Minnesota and authored an opinion in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution arguing for a greater ICE and Department of Homeland Security presence in Atlanta.
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., speaks before Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks on the tax code, and manufacturing at the Johnny Mercer Theatre Civic Center, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
He has also introduced a bill to allow Trump to acquire Greenland, renaming it “Red, White and Blueland.”
Collins’ district, the 10th, includes Athens, Eatonton, Elberton, Jackson, Monroe, Social Circle, Sparta, Watkinsville and Winder. Carter’s district, the 1st, includes the coastal cities of Savannah and Brunswick.
The primary election is May 19, and the primary runoff is June 16. The general election is on Nov. 3.
