Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) nearly decided to run for Senate against incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in Georgia but instead decided to move on, citing a chamber under “uniparty control.”
Conservatives had their darling pick in the race, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), but he passed on running. MTG was considered a step down from the well-known and pragmatic Kemp, who has been popular as the swing state’s two-term governor and even clashed with President Donald Trump leading up to the final months of the 2024 campaign season.
The congresswoman is a prominent member for the GOP’s right flank, and there was concern she would be unable to draw the purple state’s voters. Members of President Donald Trump’s team even pointed her to polling showing she would lose to Ossoff in 2026 to discourage her from running, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The polling, by Trump’s favored pollster Tony Fabrizio, showed her losing the race to Ossoff by nearly 20 points, also revealing Kemp and Small Business Administrator and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler would be better candidates.
Greene told the outlet in a statement that it was a “private conversation, and apparently is being leaked.”
She accused Fabrizio of working “against” her because he says he has a “conflict.” The congresswoman also blasted the poll’s credibility.
“Pick any 800 people in Georgia, and you can make a poll say anything you want,” she told the outlet.
She then appeared to mock the GOP political establishment by listing off their Senate losers in the past few years, including Loeffler, Herschel Walker, and former Sen. David Perdue. And then, in response to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) suggesting to the outlet that Greene is not “appealing,” she said, “Nobody cares about Tillis because he represents everything wrong in the Senate, and he has his own problems in North Carolina.”
The congresswoman had said she knew she could win the Senate race, widely labeled as a “toss-up” in 2026. Two other polls, from the Trafalgar Group and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, had MTG losing by 11 and 17 points, respectively.
She announced her decision not to run in a lengthy post to X on May 9. “So, Jon Ossoff, you can stop with the fundraising emails and campaign ads claiming I’m your opponent. I’m not running. Start trying to raise money off one of these other generic Republicans, though I expect your donations will drop,” she concluded.
When asked by the Wall Street Journal about Greene running for the Senate seat, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), who beat Loeffler in a 2021 special election and Walker in 2022, laughed.
“Come on, man,” he said.
HOW REPUBLICANS TOOK BACK THE SENATE AFTER STINGING 2022 SETBACK
It’s unknown who the GOP will coalesce around for Georgia’s Senate election, but Republicans will want to pick a formidable candidate to build their Senate majority in 2026.
It just won’t be Greene.
