ATLANTA – U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced on Friday that she has decided not to run against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia in the upcoming midterms, a move that eases concerns among Republicans who believe she is too polarizing to secure a victory.
In an extensive message shared on the social media platform X, Greene addressed GOP donors and advisers who worry her candidacy might alienate the moderate Republicans and independents necessary to defeat Ossoff. Greene expressed disinterest in joining a Senate she claims “doesn’t work” and is filled with politicians she believes are unfriendly to grassroots Trump supporters and resistant to change.
“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, currently serving his first term as senator, achieved his position by a narrow victory in a state that was traditionally a Republican bastion but has lately become a contested area. He remains a primary target for Republicans aiming to bolster their slim majority in the Senate.
Popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who could be a formidable opponent for Ossoff, opted out of the 2026 race on Monday. His decision leaves a wide-open race for the GOP nomination.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents a district on the Georgia coast, became the first major Republican candidate to declare Thursday.
Six other GOP officeholders besides Greene have acknowledged interest in running to The Associated Press. They include two other Republicans in the U.S. House, Mike Collins and Rich McCormick. Also considering 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,” said Eric Tanenblatt, a top national GOP fundraiser and Kemp ally who has backed Trump’s rivals in presidential primaries.
Greene is nationally known and a prolific fundraiser, but she has embraced conspiracy theories and feuded with members of her own party. On Thursday, she noted to reporters that she has more than 11 million social media followers, saying that’s because people know where she stands.
Greene’s appeal would be clear in a GOP primary with many voters fiercely loyal to the president. Her decision not to run came a day after she told reporters she was considering 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 said Thursday.
Greene was first elected to the House in 2020. She initially planned to run in a competitive district in northern Atlanta’s suburbs, but relocated into the much more conservative 14th District in Georgia’s northwest corner.
Greene continued to embrace conspiracies even after 11 House Republicans joined Democrats to remove her committee assignments in February 2021. She embraced people jailed on charges following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as political prisoners, part of her campaign to reframe the narrative of the attack and cast Democrats, not Republicans, as a party of violence.
She was welcomed back into the mainstream of the Republican conference by Kevin McCarthy, who forged an alliance with her. But Greene kept feuding with Republicans and Democrats alike. The House Freedom Caucus expelled Greene in 2023.
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Cooper repoted from Phoenix.
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