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Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene is ready to be elected in November
A U.S. businesswoman who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory has won the Republican nomination for a seat in the House of Representatives.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is now expected to be elected in November to represent Georgia’s heavily conservative 14th Congress district, and to become QAnon’s first supporter in Congress.
It comes amid a crackdown on social media on the conspiracy theory.
QAnon says “deep state” traitors are pleading guilty to Donald Trump.
Ms Greene is part of a growing list of Republican candidates to support the conspiracy theory.
In another main result on Tuesday, Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar defeated a well-funded challenger to put her up for re-election, along with other members of the “squad” of Democratic congresswomen.
What happened in Georgia?
Ms Greene, an enterprising woman who has a construction business with her husband, beat neurosurgeon John Cowan for the Republican nomination on Tuesday.
She will face Democrat Kevin Van Ausdal in November, but is widely expected to win in the Conservative district.
The controversial candidate has previously expressed support for QAnon – a broad, unfounded conspiracy theory that says Donald Trump is waging a secret war against elite Satan-worshiping pedophiles in government, business and the media.
In a YouTube video, she praised “Q” – the nickname figure who started the conspiracy theory – as a “patriot”.
In recent weeks, several social media sites have taken action against QAnon, with Twitter banning thousands of accounts linked to the conspiracy theory and TikTok blocking hashtags related to it in search results, among other measures.
The FBI has identified a potential domestic extremist threat to QAnon.
While other candidates have also expressed support for QAnon, most stand little chance of being elected.
In addition to QAnon, Ms. Greene has positioned herself as a strong supporter of Mr. Trump and is pro-gun, pro-border wall and anti-abortion.
Several Republican officials spoke out against their campaign earlier this year when videos were discovered that made them offensive remarks about black people, Muslims and Jews.
Ms Greene celebrated the result on social media.
“The GOP [Republican Party] establishment, the media, and the radical left, spent months & millions of dollars attacking me. “Last night, the people of Georgia stood up and said we will not be intimidated or believe those lies,” she wrote on Twitter.
“I’m excited about the next Congresswoman of GA 14. God Bless America.”
Voter Pamela Reardon told the Associated Press that she supported Ms Greene “because of her honesty”.
“She will not be bought by anyone. I could tell her heart was pure.”
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What about the result of Ilhan Omar?
Democrat Ilhan Omar easily survived a challenge from a well-funded opponent on Tuesday, setting her up for re-election as a representative of Minnesota’s Fifth Congress District.
Ms Omar – one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to Congress in 2018 – beat lawyer Antone Melton-Meaux, whose campaign raised millions of dollars.
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Ilhan Omar won more than 57% of the vote
Mr. Melton-Meaux accused the Somali-born politician of prioritizing her fame across her constituencies.
But Ms Omar won more than 57% of the vote, compared to about 39% for Mr Melton-Meaux.
Taking social media to the result on Tuesday, Omar said she was looking forward to returning to Congress.
“In Minnesota, we know that organized people will always defeat organized money. Yesterday, our movement did not just win. We deserve a mandate for change. Despite outside efforts to defeat us, we have broken records again,” she wrote on Twitter.
- Who are the congresswomen known as ‘the squad’?
Ms Omar’s family came to the US as refugees, settling in Minneapolis in 1997. She became a citizen in 2000.
She is known as a member of the “squad” of four progressive non-white Democratic congresswomen who were elected to the Second Chamber in 2018. All four are expected to be re-elected in November.
