Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose far-right beliefs and confrontational behavior fueled her opposition in both parties, won the Republican primary in her Northwest Georgia House district, beating a businesswoman who had gained support from some in the GOP branch.
The victory of Mrs. Greene on a crowded field dashed the hopes of some Republicans who had thought the loss of Rep. Madison Cawthorn, another far-right Republican, in a North Carolina primary last week could start a pattern.
The money and the support had started flowing to Ms. Greene’s main opponent, Jennifer Strahan, a health care executive, and if Ms. Strahan had been able to keep Ms. Greene below 50 percent, the race would have ended in a runoff election with the challenger likely to gain additional mainstream Republican support.
Ms. Strahan portrayed herself as the adult in the race. “We need officials who are in policy, who are not chasing the concept of a celebrity,” she said in a recent video interview with Forbes, adding, “We need a serious representative.”
But Ms. Greene’s win cemented the loyalty of California Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, who has told GOP donors that Ms. Greene is simply a reflection of her conservative district.
Ms. Greene was elected in 2020 after she adhered to beliefs consistent with the QAnon conspiracy theory and made numerous derogatory comments about black people, Jews and Muslims. Since then, she has tried to distance herself from her most incendiary views.
Ms. Greene was stripped of her committee duties by a vote in the House in February 2021 after it was revealed she had repeatedly endorsed social media calls to execute top Democrats. And her candidacy for re-election was challenged by lawyers who accused her of supporting an “uprising” against the government with her sympathy for the Jan. 6 rioters.
The Democrat who will triumph in Tuesday’s primaries, Marcus Flowers, has amassed a massive war chest to face Ms. Greene in the fall. His advertising could disrupt the airwaves in Georgia’s 14th district, but few believe that such a Republican territory could elect a Democrat in a year when even closely-drawn districts are leaning toward the GOP.
