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Long before taking office last January, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) made herself known as a fringe conspiracy theorist. Now, some residents of her district have had enough and they’re working to ensure Greene doesn’t return to Congress after the midterm elections.
Marcus Flowers, a progressive, Black veteran, and Jennifer Strahan, a conservative Christian mom and business owner, are two of the now seven people challenging Greene in the 2022 election. Flowers is running for the Democratic nomination to take Greene on in November. Strahan, a staunch Republican and supporter of Trump’s economic policies, is working hard to oust her in the GOP primary.
It all stems from a desire to, as Strahan puts it, “bring sanity back to Washington”.
Greene’s lies and inaction have made her useless to her own constituents
Prior to running for office, Greene actively promoted some of the most disturbing lies on the internet.
From Pizzagate, to proclaiming the Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings were hoaxes, to calling for the execution of Democrats, MTG has peddled it all.
None of that stopped her winning the 2020 GOP nomination and eventually the general election in Georgia’s 14th congressional district. Greene sailed to victory with a nearly 3-1 margin.
But Greene’s lies, conspiracy theories and general absurdity didn’t wane when she took office. If anything, they simply found a larger and louder platform.
Within two months of being sworn in to Congress, Greene was stripped of her committee assignments in a bi-partisan vote. The move came after video surfaced of Green taunting a school shooting survivor. This, plus her claim that Jewish Americans used a space laser to start California wild fires, was simply too much.
Now, rather than pass substantive policy, Greene takes to Twitter or the house floor to promote useless legislation. The Congresswoman has introduced bills like the “Fire Fauci Act” or the “Kyle H. Rittenhouse Congressional Gold Medal Act”. Green also loves introducing and array of articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. None of it has gone anywhere and none of it has done anything to improve the lives of her constituents.
Republicans and Democrats seek to oust Marjorie Taylor Greene
Removing an incumbent is no easy task.
In 2020, only 21 incumbents out of 435 voting members of Congress lost re-election. Only five of them were Republicans. But Flowers and Strahan both seem to believe it’s worth the uphill battle.
Flowers says in his campaign ad that he’s running for Congress “because Georgians deserve better”.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s “twisted conspiracy theories may have made her famous,” Flowers says. “But they haven’t done a damn thing to help the people of our district.”
He’s right. In Greene’s district, for instance, more than one in five children and one in seven adults live in poverty. Green has introduced no legislation to address that.
As a combat veteran, Flowers says he’s “seen firsthand the damage done by radicalism, extremism and disinformation”.
“And I wont stand by while people in Washington take us down the same path”.
On the other side of the aisle, Republican Jennifer Strahan receives warm receptions at GOP meetings across her district. Strahan is a “no-nonsense conservative” who’s “tired of people in Washington putting what’s good for themselves ahead of what’s good for our country.”
While Greene far outpaces Strahan in terms of name recognition and online followers, Strahan isn’t deterred. She’s engaging in traditional small-town campaigning to try and win over Republican voters. New polling shows her gaining ground in her race against Greene.
Greene may be a celebrity, but Strahan knows celebrity means nothing if you’re not working for the people of your district.
“Inflation just hit a 40-year high and what is our Congresswoman doing?,” Strahan Tweeted in January. “She is attacking members of her own party while Democrats run us into the ground. We need a serious person to work and solve serious problems. That is why I am running.”
Strahan ended the Tweet with the hashtag “#PrimariesMatter”.
Looks like Strahan would be worse than Greene, same politics without the KARAZEE which would make her more dangerous. Who else is running in the Dem primary? I received a letter from Flowers here in San Francisco but I don’t like donating before primaries. I want Greene out but who can beat her who has the welfare of our people at heart? Nate can you do a story on the Dem primary in Georgia?