The Democrat running against Marjorie Greene in Georgia abruptly dropped out of his race for Congress on Friday, a move that puts the controversial Republican on the fast track to Washington.
Kevin Van Ausdal announced Friday he’s ending his longshot bid to represent the solidly red 14th congressional district for “family and personal reasons.” He said he’ll be leaving Georgia and therefore disqualified from serving in Congress. It was unclear what Van Ausdal’s next steps would be.
Greene, a gun-toting conservative who has been suspended from social media on multiple occasions, wished the best to Van Ausdal and said it’s time to defeat the rest of the Democrats in the general election.
“Now let’s all work together to re-elect [President Trump], hold the U.S. Senate, repeal Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, and help GA Republicans win!” Greene tweeted.
Rep. Doug Collins, a GOP Georgia Senate candidate, declared Greene the winner in a tweet applauding the “new congresswoman.”
The 14th congressional district is heavily Republican, so Greene was the clear favorite to win anyway. The businesswoman and first-time congressional candidate had her toughest fight in the GOP primary where she beat out a field of candidates with her stopping socialism campaign message and pledge to stand up to the progressive freshman Squad.
MARJORIE GREENE, CONTROVERSIAL GEORGIA REPUBLICAN, SAYS SHE’S NOT A QANON CANDIDATE
She’s drawn plenty of scrutiny for her past videos in support of QAnon conspiracies, but she told 360aproko News in an interview she’s moved past that.
“No, it doesn’t represent me,” Greene said of the “QAnon candidate” label she’s garnered.
The northwest Georiga district opened up when GOP Rep. Tom Graves said he wouldn’t seek reelection after representing the 14th District since 2013. On Friday, Graves announced he’d be leaving his term early in October, meaning the seat would be vacant until Greene enters Congress in January.
“I intend to step down from Congress and begin the next chapter of life in October,” Graves said in a statement. “Congress is going into a long recess and my committee work will be complete. In short, my work will be done. “
