Greene's divisive politics face test in Republican primary

Election 2022 Georgia Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., talks as President Joe Biden delivers his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, at the Capitol in Washington on March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, Pool, File)

With millions raised to defend her seat in Congress and five fellow Republicans running to take it, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faced her first reelection vote Tuesday in a GOP primary race that tests how her conservative Georgia constituents judge her turbulent freshman term.

Greene, 47, became a celebrity of the Republican Party’s far-right fringe with her election two years ago as she embraced former President Donald Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, engaged in conspiracy theories about the coronavirus and launched partisan attacks that critics said promoted racism and violence.

Greene remained on the primary ballot Tuesday in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District after a failed effort to disqualify her by opposing voters. They argued Greene engaged in insurrection by encouraging the Jan. 6, 2021, riot that disrupted Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s presidential victory. Georgia’s secretary of state and an administrative law judge dismissed the claims.