Marjorie Taylor Greene's House race is costliest of 2022. Meet the Army veteran running against her.

On Jan. 7, 2021, Marcus Flowers resigned from his position as a federal government official and decided to run for a congressional seat in Georgia.

His opponent, Republican firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, unwittingly helped spur the decision through her unrelenting – and groundless – claims that widespread election fraud led to Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump.

“This campaign was born on Jan. 6 when I saw police officers being beaten with an American flag and a Confederate battle flag being paraded through our Capitol Rotunda,” Flowers, a Democrat, told USA TODAY in an interview. “Marjorie Taylor Greene and others pushing the Big Lie drove those people to the Capitol.”

Greene first grew in notoriety due to her embrace of the conspiracist QAnon movement. She has since spent her first term without committee assignments, feuding with colleagues and refuting any ties to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Greene's campaign did not respond to USA TODAY requests for an interview or comment.

An Army veteran with a background in intelligence and electronic warfare, Flowers says he’s seen the chaos that extremism and disinformation can sow within countries and communities.

“The Big Lie that Marjorie Taylor Greene and others have been pushing for the last couple of years – that's not helping us,” Flowers said, referring to the false election claims. “That's not who we are here in Georgia.”

If money is an indication, it appears Flowers' message resonates. Americans from around the country have poured millions into Flowers’ campaign, making the U.S. House race for Georgia’s 14th Congressional District the costliest this election cycle.

Georgia’s 14th Congressional District covers the northwest corner of the state, bordering Alabama and Tennessee. As of 2020, the district's median household income was a little over $54,000 – lower than both the nation and the state – and three quarters of the population was white. Greene received nearly three quarters of the vote in 2020.

But money can only help so Flowers much, experts told USA TODAY, and his battle against Greene in one of Georgia’s deep red districts is uphill at best, experts say. 

"It never ceases to amaze me that people will give money to a hopeless cause," said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor emeritus at Emory University in Atlanta. "But they will."

Big bucks flow in and out of race

Flowers and Greene have raised — and spent — more than $7 million each since the cycle began in January 2021, making it one of the most expensive House races this election cycle. Flowers has raised about half a million more than Greene, according to federal campaign finance data.

Many of the donations to both candidates are individual payments of $25 or less and come from out of state, indicating the national interest in a House race that most political handicappers deem uncompetitive.

Democrat Alice Aldridge, 74, lives in Georgia's 3rd Congressional District and can't vote for Flowers. But that hasn't stopped her from donating $600 to his campaign this cycle in hopes of eradicating Greene.

"I don't know the candidate that well," Aldridge said of Flowers. "All I know is what I've seen Marjorie Taylor Greene doing. That frightens me, and that's why I am contributing. I can't vote against her, so the best I can do is hope that people will wake up and look at what's happening to the Republican Party and say, 'This is scary.'"

Flowers told USA TODAY he was "humbled" by the number of donations made to his campaign by voters who live outside the district and outside the state.

“So many people believe in this district.Georgia saved the last election with Senator (Jon) Ossoff and Senator (Raphael) Warnock," Flower said, referring to the two Democratic challengers who won both of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats in 2020. "They're saying, ‘Look, we believe in you, Georgia. You can do it again. You can get this divisive figure out of our House and bring back decency to the seat.’ That's what people want.”

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With large campaign war chests, it’s no surprise the two U.S. House candidates are also big spenders.

Flowers is the sixth highest spender among 2022 House candidates, spending nearly $9.9 million. Greene is the 8th highest spender, having dropped nearly $8 million this cycle. That’s nearly $17.9 million combined poured into the race by the two candidates.

Among House Democratic candidates since the start of 2022, Flowers is the top spender, doling out about $6.9 million of his $9.9 million in all since Jan. 1. Greene has spent about $3.9 million this year, a USA TODAY analysis found.

Cash isn't always king, experts say

How much will all that money actually help Flowers?

"Not enough," says Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, who described Greene's Congressional district as "very, very red."

The Republican stronghold was made slightly less red after the state’s congressional boundaries were redrawn in November, pulling in some cities which are increasingly voting Democratic. However, in the last two elections, the district voted about 22 points more Republican than the nation as a whole, making it the 27th most Republican district in the country, according to the Cook Political Report’s Partisan Voting Index.

He compared the race to Democrat Jamie Harrison's 2020 bid against South Carolina Republican incumbent Sen. Lindsay Graham. In one quarter, Harrison set a record for the most money ever raised by a Senate candidate — and later lost the race by 10 points.

"If he had all the money in the world, he probably couldn't have defeated Lindsey Graham," Bullock said.

At a certain point, it's unclear how much an extra couple million dollars help at all with persuading voters, Abramowitz said.

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"You see millions and millions and millions of dollars pouring into these statewide elections, to the point where I think it's overkill," he said. "The airwaves are saturated with with ads for the candidates, and I think voters get turned off and just stop paying attention to the ads, because there's so few persuadable voters."

But Flowers told USA TODAY he feels confident that he still has a chance against Greene this November.

"If on Nov. 9 I wake up and I'm not the representative-elect for Georgia's 14th Congressional district, I will address that then. But right now, my focus is 100% on defeating Marjorie Taylor Greene and bringing integrity, decency and common sense back to the seat — getting things done," Flowers said.

Georgia on America's mind

In 2020, Georgia emerged as a key battleground state in presidential and congressional races.

President Joe Biden narrowly beat Trump in the once reliably red state, and political newcomers Ossoff and Warnock, Democrats, both prevailed over incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

With midterm elections just two months away, the Peach State is once again demonstrating its growing national importance.

The money says as much. Warnock, a former pastor and first-term senator, has raised $84.9 million this election cycle and spent $85.4 million  – far surpassing any other 2022 Senate candidates in both regards, according to FEC data.

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Since the start of the year alone, Warnock has dropped $31.8 million on his race against former football star Herschel Walker, who has spent nearly $10 million since the start of the year, a USA TODAY analysis found.

"We're going to become a big competitive state, at least through the decade — maybe on beyond that," Bullock said. "As long as each party has a chance of winning, as long as we're in a situation where if you could move 50,000, maybe even 25,000 voters? Yeah, we're gonna get lots of attention."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marjorie Taylor Greene race vs. Marcus Flowers is costliest House race