Marjorie Taylor Greene Declines To Challenge Jon Ossoff In 2026 Georgia Senate Race | EUROtoday

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated Friday she gained’t problem Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia in subsequent 12 months’s midterms, delivering reduction for some Republicans who fear she’s too divisive to win.

In a prolonged put up on the social media platform X, Greene disputed GOP donors and consultants who worry she would flip off the reasonable Republicans and independents wanted to beat Ossoff. But Greene stated she doesn’t need to serve in a Senate that “doesn’t work” and that she stated is dominated by lawmakers hostile to grassroots Trump supporters and unwilling to shake up the established order.

“If I’m going to fight for a team, it will only be a team willing to lay it all on the line to save this country,” she wrote.

Ossoff, a first-term senator, gained the seat by a slim margin in a state that has traditionally been a Republican stronghold however has extra lately change into a battleground. He is a high goal for Republicans trying to broaden their slender Senate majority.

Popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who may very well be a formidable opponent for Ossoff, opted out of the 2026 race on Monday. His determination leaves a wide-open race for the GOP nomination.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on the Georgia coast, turned the primary main Republican candidate to declare Thursday.

Six different GOP officeholders in addition to Greene have acknowledged curiosity in operating to The Associated Press. They embody two different Republicans within the U.S. House, Mike Collins and Rich McCormick. Also contemplating the race are Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, state Insurance Commissioner John King and state Sen. Greg Dolezal.

“I expect a competitive primary — Senate seats don’t come along that often,” stated Eric Tanenblatt, a high nationwide GOP fundraiser and Kemp ally who has backed Trump’s rivals in presidential primaries.

Greene is nationally identified and a prolific fundraiser, however she has embraced conspiracy theories and feuded with members of her personal occasion. On Thursday, she famous to reporters that she has greater than 11 million social media followers, saying that’s as a result of folks know the place she stands.

Greene’s attraction could be clear in a GOP main with many citizens fiercely loyal to the president. Her determination to not run got here a day after she advised reporters she was contemplating it.

“I’m going to give it some thought, talk to my family. I’m honored to have so much support from the great people of Georgia. And I have options,” she stated Thursday.

Greene was first elected to the House in 2020. She initially deliberate to run in a aggressive district in northern Atlanta’s suburbs, however relocated into the rather more conservative 14th District in Georgia’s northwest nook.

Greene continued to embrace conspiracies even after 11 House Republicans joined Democrats to take away her committee assignments in February 2021. She embraced folks jailed on fees following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol as political prisoners, a part of her marketing campaign to reframe the narrative of the assault and solid Democrats, not Republicans, as a celebration of violence.

She was welcomed again into the mainstream of the Republican convention by Kevin McCarthy, who cast an alliance together with her. But Greene stored feuding with Republicans and Democrats alike. The House Freedom Caucus expelled Greene in 2023.

Cooper repoted from Phoenix.