Thirty-first legislative day - Thursday, March 12, 2026
The General Assembly will not meet on Friday
but will return to session Monday
GAE-endorsed candidate in 14th Congressional District special election was top vote getter
Retired Brigadier General, Polk County cattle farmer, and former public school teacher Shawn Harris received more votes than any of the other sixteen candidates on the ballot Tuesday in a special election in the 14th Congressional District. The seat became vacant on the resignation of former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in early January. The winner will serve out the remainder of her term. Both Harris and Fuller have qualified for a full term and both will be on the political parties' May 19 primary election ballot for the November 2026 general election.
Harris received 37.33%. Trump-endorsed candidate Clay Fuller received 34.87%. As the two top finishers, the two will face off in a special election runoff on April 7. Former Republican state Sen. Colton Moore finished in third place Tuesday with about 12% of the vote.
Fuller is a former district attorney for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit of Georgia.
The 14th Congressional District includes Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Murray, Paulding, Polk, Walker and Whitfield counties as well as portions of Cobb County.
Details on the specifics of early voting in
the April 7 runoff are to be announced.
GAE-backed candidate
in House District
94 special election
makes April 7 runoff
A special election on March 10 to fill the open seat in House District 94 (DeKalb and Gwinnett counties) will go to a runoff as no candidate received more than 50% of the vote.
GAE-backed candidate Venola Mason received 44.23% of the vote among the four candidates running. 23.20% of the votes went to Kelly Kautz. The runoff between these two will be held on April 7. Specific details on early voting are pending.
Mason is a former teacher in the Atlanta Public Schools. Kautz is a former mayor of Snellville.
Bill urges cooperation between state agencies
to prioritize student vision and hearing screenings
The Georgia House of Representatives today passed HR 145, a bill that urges the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Department of Public Health prioritize the expansion of vision and hearing screening in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first, third, fifth, and eighth grades as well as for transfer students in all grade levels
Senate Education moves three bills
"The Math Matters Act," HB 1030, would require that middle and high school students have access to advanced math classes and that students in the 4th and 5th grades receive an hour daily or 300 minutes weekly core math instruction.
HB 1284 states: "Each local board of education shall issue a high school diploma to a student enrolled in a high school program who has a medical diagnosis of a terminal condition and is receiving end-of-life care."
HB 1293 updates eligibility requirements for students to participate in the Dual Achievement Program and provides for the creation of a new funding formula. The Dual Achievement Program is another path toward high school graduation that allows students to earn a high school diploma at a Technical College System of Georgia High School Academy. Students will complete both high school (if needed) and college course work at a TCSG High School Academy. Students will graduate high school with a high school diploma and college credentials. The program is currently operating as a pilot program but this bill will make it permanent.
The next Legislative Alert will be Monday, March 16
