Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced that she will not seek the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff next year.
Greene's announcement comes days after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp also announced he would not challenge Ossoff either.
For her part, Greene claimed she could have beaten Ossoff. I doubt this very much. If she could have beaten him, she would have run. I'm sure her internal polling had her underperforming against Ossoff as she is too much of a lightning rod for a significant segment of Georgians including Republican voters.
It is worth noting, however, that Greene did not rule out a gubernatorial bid. While I think her extremism might hold her back should she seek the Governor's mansion, she would not be challenging a Democratic incumbent as would be the case in the Senate race. If she runs for Governor, she will have name recognition and a big fundraising advantage over her Democratic competitor.
The wild card in all of this is Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who has made no secret of his political ambitions for higher office. The question is which higher office.
Given the fact that neither Kemp nor Greene are going to challenge Ossoff, this gives a wide lane to Raffensperger who I think would have a decided advantage over Ossoff.
I think Raffensperger would have a much tougher time trying to win the Republican gubernatorial nomination should Greene run for that office. Raffensperger was a profile in courage in refusing to be intimidated by President Trump's demand that he find 11,780 votes after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden and testified before the January 6th Committee. Yes, Raffensperger survived a primary challenge from Jody Hice in 2022. But Jody Hice is not Marjorie Taylor Greene. The fact is that the Republican Party in Georgia and beyond is far more representative of Marjorie Taylor Greene than it is of Brad Raffensperger.
In other words, if Raffensperger has the choice between soundly defeating Jon Ossoff for a U.S. Senate seat and losing to Marjorie Taylor Greene in a Republican gubernatorial primary, he is going to choose the former over the latter.
Of course, all of this is dependent upon Greene deciding to leave Washington.
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