ROME, Ga. (AP) — During almost three decades of living in Georgia’s conservative northwest corner, Kimberly Seals got used to keeping her liberal opinions to herself. She suspected there were others who felt the same way, but she had no way to know for sure.
So on a recent Saturday afternoon, she gazed in amazement at the crowd of hundreds who gathered in the town of Rome to hear Pete Buttigieg stump for long-shot Democratic congressional candidate Shawn Harris.
“There’s a lot more people that think like us than we anticipated,” Seals said alongside her husband.
Harris, a farmer and retired Army general, is running to replace conservative firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene, who resigned in January after a falling-out with President Donald Trump. He’s up against Republican candidate Clay Fuller, a district attorney, and faces slim chances in a runoff on April 7.
But as early voting begins on Monday, some Democrats are still feeling hopeful after their party performed better than expected in recent special elections leading up to the November midterms, which will determine control of Congress.
“I believe that there is no such thing as a permanently red district or state or town,” said Buttigieg, who served as President Joe Biden’s transportation secretary. A former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, he previously ran for the White House and might try again.
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Buttigieg insisted “things really are shifting in this country.”
Harris is testing the limits of that theory with his second campaign for Georgia’s 14th District, banking that nationwide Democratic enthusiasm and simmering discontent with Trump could help him defy political gravity.
Walking the streets
Sporting blue jeans and well-worn orange sneakers last week, Harris zig-zagged down a residential street in south Rome, chatting with voters who recognized him immediately.
Phoebe Johnson, 69, said it was the third time she saw Harris knocking on doors. He is “actually talking about the things that really matters,” she said, such as rising grocery prices and the cost of the Republican president’s tariffs.
Unlike in 2024, when he lost to Greene, Harris said more people know him — as Shawn, rather than as Gen. Harris. He served in the military for 40 years, including time as an infantry commander in Afghanistan, before retiring as a brigadier general in the Army National Guard. He lives on his cattle farm in Rockmart.
“I went right back to work with my hands and built a cattle farm that I live on every day,” Harris said. “That says to the hardworking people here in northwest Georgia that Shawn Harris works hard just like them out in the hot sun and I get the results.”
He said a group of Republican veterans helping him put up fences on his farm were among the first people who pushed him to run for office, before they knew he was a Democrat.
Harris said his background as a farmer and veteran resonate with working-class voters.
Odell Battle, 76, said Harris “stands for the kind of lifestyle that I like and enjoy.”
“This man is here to serve the community,” Battle said after Harris gave him his cellphone number. “It’s not just to get into Washington and forget about us.”
Republicans doubt Harris’ chances
Harris finished first on the ballot in the March 10 election. But while he was the best-known Democrat, Republicans split their vote among several candidates. Consultants from both parties caution against extrapolating too much from special elections with limited turnout.
“It’s just too solid a red district,” said conservative commentator and former state Rep. Buzz Brockway. “But it might be closer than it should.”
Jay Morgan, former executive director of the Georgia Republican Party, said, if anything, the district could become even redder, and he described Fuller as “central casting.”
“You have a guy who’s a stand-up law enforcement guy who is an extremely attractive candidate,” he said. “To have somebody like that follow Marjorie Taylor Greene is just a huge boost for the party.”
Many Republicans were relieved to see Fuller make it to the runoff over former state Sen. Colton Moore, the brasher, more controversial far-right candidate whose style mirrors Greene’s.
”The people of Northwest Georgia stand with President Trump and Clay Fuller,” Fuller campaign manager Dabriel Graham said.
Floyd County Democratic Chair Vincent Mendes works as a chiropractor and said many of his Republican patients are considering voting for Harris. He believes Harris has a shot because the district is “tired of being a talking point.”
“We’re ready for real representation,” Mendes said. “We had somebody who was mostly interested in chasing headlines for years.”
Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey hopes that excitement will lift candidates across the state in the midterms, especially as Republicans attempt to oust Sen. Jon Ossoff.
“This race is critical for Georgia’s 14th District, but it’s even bigger than that,” Bailey said. “Shawn is building momentum right now that will keep growing all the way through November, boosting Democrats at every level of the ticket in North Georgia and beyond.”
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Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Charlotte Kramon, The Associated Press
