Chapter 1: What is the significance of Trump's endorsement in the Georgia race?
On Tuesday night in Georgia, a crowded Republican field tested the strength of President Donald Trump's endorsement of Republican Clay Fuller. In a race to fill the seat once held by former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, the question weighing over this year's critical midterm elections is whether the president's backing is a help or hindrance.
Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, March 11th, 2026. As these contests unfold alongside domestic economic concerns and major global tensions, what can they tell us about where American politics is heading? Joining me now to share his insights on the latest elections is USA Today Chief Political Correspondent Philip M. Bailey.
Philip, it's good to have you back.
Hey Dana, how are you?
I'm good.
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Chapter 2: How does the Georgia 14th congressional district reflect Trump's influence?
So, Philip, we know this Georgia race between Fuller and Democrat Sean Harris is headed to a runoff. Is this race a good indicator that Trump still has a lock on the Republican Party?
Well, I think there are a few things to pay attention to here in Georgia's 14th congressional district that are good signs for President Trump, but also at the same time, if I'm someone close to him politically, I might be a bit worried. So yes, he endorsed Clay Fuller in this crowded field of candidates to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia that included like 15 or so Republicans.
He endorsed Mr. Fuller, a former prosecutor, a cancer survivor, a veteran of the National Air Guard. And at the same time, it didn't really clear the field. None of the other Republicans dropped out, including former Georgia state legislator Colton Moore. So you didn't see this clearing of the field that you would usually expect when the king of MAGA makes it clear who he supports in the race.
However, when you look at the results, it was very clear that once that cue was given, right, once voters, former Marjorie Taylor Greene voters saw that, they overwhelmingly went with Mr. Fuller. He beat
Chapter 3: What challenges do Republicans face in the upcoming midterms?
Mr. Moore, by about three times as many votes, I think, in the final tally, to get about 36% of the vote, where he only got about 11%, and every other Republican got in the single digits.
But it does, Dana, show me, MAGA or not, America First or not, there are Republican candidates out there who see a future for themselves beyond President Trump, that he simply can't come into an area and declare, this is the person who I'm supporting, the rest of you need to get out. We're seeing that unfold, for example, in the Senate race on the Republican side in Texas.
So the president's grip on MAGA, on the Republican Party, is still strong, but you are beginning to see some loosening areas. And the area in the election we're looking at mostly is going to be the May 19th election in Kentucky, Kentucky's fourth congressional district, where Thomas Massey is facing a tough reelection battle in that primary.
How do you see this race shaping the way Republicans position themselves as we head into the midterms?
Well, look, I think for Republicans, and you're already seeing from that retreat the House Republicans had this week, where they were told by the White House to tamper down on the mass deportation talk, instead focus on undocumented immigrants here in this country who have a violent offense or a violent criminal history, either in their home country of origin or here in the United States.
I think you're beginning to see that, and Speaker Mike Johnson spoke to this, you know, some weakening effects among Hispanic voters that Republicans are a bit worried about. I think the affordability issue, the cost of living is still growing. a major problem for particularly younger Republican men.
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Chapter 4: How are economic issues impacting Republican strategies?
And then, of course, the most change we've seen in this past month in the president's direction has been the war with Iran, where gas prices have spiked. I've heard from readers, Dana, who said that their gas prices have gone up in their area by as much as 50 cents. in less than a couple of days.
The stock market's volatility, yes, the ongoing crisis with affordability, but the Iran war, more than anything, I think, stabs at the heart of the America First MAGA movement because Donald Trump was elected in large part because of his disdain for and disgust at foreign wars.
And new polling comes in every day showing that most of the country is against this war, but there are also elements of Republicans that don't agree with certain aspects of the war.
I
I want to take a closer look at the two candidates in Georgia 14, starting with Clay Fuller. There were more than a dozen candidates vying for Marjorie Taylor Greene's seat. Fuller spoke to USA Today about this. How did he win the president's backing?
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Chapter 5: What role does the Iran war play in current Republican politics?
Yeah, I spoke to Mr. Fuller not too long after the results were announced. He and I had a brief conversation.
And look, he is tried and true a polite man, but at the same time, he's a true Maga warrior, believes in this president, supports the Iran war, bragged, in fact, on social media about the killing of their supreme leader in Iran a few weeks ago, saying he was a monster and really going hard against that regime and its reputation.
I think the way that Mr. Fuller and his campaign and others close to him explained it to me is that, look, his poll numbers were strong. He made it very clear to the White House and to House Republican leaders that he was going to be a loyal vote and supporter of the president's agenda.
I think taking advantage of, because look, there was a political divorce between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump. There are still some constituents in that area who have a fondness of her, who are sad to see her leave, but at the end of the day are still going to remain loyal to the president.
And it's important because, look, in the House right now, we have a razor thin majority for the Republicans. And every member that they lose, whether to an untimely death or to a resignation, means they have very little room to lose even a single vote if they want to get legislation passed.
Adding Mr. Fuller to that caucus gives Donald Trump even a little bit of cushion, which is better than none at all in the House majority that he needs to wield to pass anything at this point in Congress.
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Chapter 6: How are younger Democrats challenging established incumbents?
So I think Fuller's campaign, like other Republicans, advertised themselves. I'm sure there's a bit of flattery involved. I think everyone knows at this point that flattering the president is a good way to get in his good graces. But he really did sort of take a lead in the pack among Republicans in that race by appealing to the loyalty aspect of Donald Trump.
He's always a big fan of someone who's loyal to him. He's not a big fan of people who are critical of him, even in the slightest way. So I think that's how Fuller distinguished himself. I think he was rewarded with that overwhelmingly. Again, Colton Moore, the former state legislator from Georgia who came in really third overall in the race, but second in terms of Republican vote getters.
He tried his best to appeal to that Donald Trump sentiment to Trump supporters.
Chapter 7: What insights can we gain from the Mississippi Democratic primary?
It just wasn't enough when you don't have the actual seal of approval from the president.
Philip, as you wrote, Georgia's 14th congressional district is a mostly blue-collar corridor. Is Democrat Sean Harris seen as a strong contender here?
Absolutely not. He has no chance. That's important to pretty much every expert you talk to when you look at how overwhelmingly pro-Trump Georgia's 14th congressional district is. And just to paint the geographic picture for folks, it's basically the area north of Atlanta, the Atlanta northern suburbs, all the way to the Appalachian Mountains region connecting to the Tennessee border.
So it's a red rock conservative district. I think one of the most conservative districts when you look at the 2024 results, Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in that district by about 40 points. So it's one of the most MAGA-aligned, MAGA-coded districts in the country.
Chapter 8: What are the broader implications of the current political landscape?
At the same time, when you look at Sean Harris' performance, getting about 40% of that vote, that's much better than he did when he ran against Marjorie Taylor Greene previously. So it fits with Democrats overperforming what's expected to be a blue wave in the midterms. Still, when you take all the Republican votes and add them together, they far outpace.
They still are enough to beat Sean Harris in this runoff on April 7th. At the same time, what's interesting to me, Dana, is that Sean Harris has invited Pete Buttigieg, former transportation secretary under Joe Biden, the mayor of Indiana, sort of caught fire in 2020 with younger Democratic voters. He's going to be in the district. Right. This weekend, stumping for Sean Harris.
He endorsed Harris already. People probably wonder, why is Pete Buttigieg doing this? I think it's clearly a tryout for Buttigieg's pending potential 2028 presidential race. Pete Buttigieg is known as the Democrat willing to go on Fox News, going into these conservative spaces, not afraid to try to flip areas the Democrats are normally not that well welcomed in.
And there's no better place to start than Georgia's 14th congressional district.
Another interesting race this past Tuesday was the Democratic primary in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District. Is this really a story about generational change? And can you walk us through these two candidates, the 78-year-old incumbent, Benny Thompson, and his 34-year-old challenger, Evan Turnage?
Right. Big picture Democrats still raw, particularly younger Democrats, still raw from what they feel like was just a fumble in the 2024 election when you look back and see Joe Biden's performance in that debate.
But even before that, there were questions and media folks like myself and others were poking these questions about the president's former president's acuity and age and how much that was affecting his decision making or ability to run a campaign and even be president. of the United States. Well, now you're seeing that show up in these 2026 primaries on the Democratic side.
You're seeing a lot of younger Democrats running and taking on long-time incumbents, elderly incumbents. Some of them, like Steny Hoy, for example, just bowing out and saying, hey, I'm retiring. I get the message. I don't want to run for another term.
Some like Bennie Thompson, Congressman out of Mississippi's second congressional district, who was the co-chair, if everyone remembers, of the January 6th committee back a few years ago during the Biden years, 78 years old, long-time member, veteran member, certainly institutional memory there, was challenged by 34-year-old Evan Turnitch, who was a former aide and assistant to Elizabeth Warren, Senator of Massachusetts, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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