An effort to keep Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) off the ballot this year over accusations that she was involved in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has been defeated.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who had final jurisdiction on the congresswoman's eligibility, accepted the ruling of a judge Friday that will allow Greene to seek reelection. A group of voters in her district made the case that she could not run again for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a Civil War-era clause that bars from public office anyone who has aided in an insurrection or rebellion.
Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot made the recommendation that she remain on the ballot Friday afternoon, and Raffensperger confirmed that decision shortly after.
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Raffensperger, a Republican, was not expected to remove Greene, who is popular in her conservative northwest Georgia district and among Trump supporters nationwide. Raffensperger faces his own reelection challenge, facing off in the May 24 Republican primary for secretary of state against Rep. Jody Hice, who claims the 2020 presidential election vote-counting process was corrupted.
Raffensperger has faced ire from former President Donald Trump and his supporters for not doing more to investigate claims of voter fraud in Georgia during the 2020 presidential election. A January 2021 phone call in which Trump urged Raffensperger to "find" votes that would put him over President Joe Biden in the state, is at the center of a criminal investigation being conducted by the Fulton County district attorney.
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Greene testified at the hearing that she had very little recollection of the events leading up to the riot on Jan. 6 and denied that she wanted the rally that day to turn violent.
Similar efforts to use the Jan. 6 fallout to prevent other House members from reelection have also failed. An Arizona judge threw out a measure to ban Republican Reps. Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, as well as state Rep. Mark Finchem (who is running for Arizona secretary of state) last month, and efforts against Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) and Jim Banks (R-IN) failed as well.