'I would win.' Marjorie Taylor Greene passes on running for Georgia governor
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is passing on running for Georgia governor after months of speculation that the MAGA-aligned lawmaker would enter next year's contest, but she left the door open for a future bid.
"I am humbled and grateful by the massive statewide support that I have to run for governor, and if I wanted to run we all know I would win," Green said in a July 29 post on X. "It’s not even debatable."
The country's roughly three-dozen gubernatorial races over the next 16 months, starting with New Jersey and Virginia this fall, promise to be some of the most intriguing in recent memory with serious ramifications nationally.
Most of the attention will be centered on six of the seven 2024 battleground states, including Georgia, where Republican incumbent Brian Kemp is term limited. Forecasters rate the Peach State as a toss-up as both parties are vying to nab the seat.
Georgia Democrats gloated over her decision, saying Greene "officially chickened out" of the race in a statement to Paste BN. She had already passed on running for Senate at the urging of President Donald Trump and other GOP figures, who believed she would be too polarizing in a general election against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff.
Greene's decision leaves Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Attorney General Cris Carr as the most prominent figures in the upcoming Republican primary. In her online comments, the outspoken congresswoman said she is concerned about the state of affairs in Georgia and criticized its male-dominated environment that she said needs to be toppled.
"And one day, I might just run without the blessing from the good ‘ole boys club or the out of state consulting leaches or even without the blessing of my favorite president," she said.
Greene, who first ran for Congress in 2020, has been bucking Trump and the GOP more lately, starting in June when she slammed the president's decision to bomb Iran. On July 29, she became the first Republican member of Congress to describe the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a "genocide" citing the flood of pictures and videos of mass starvation in the enclave.