Blue-collar businessman jumps into race to replace MTG, casting himself as the opposite of the GOP firebrand

FIRST ON FOX: Businessman and former County Commissioner Brian Stover is launching a Republican campaign on Wednesday to replace GOP firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia's 14th Congressional District.

"I'll 100% be his ally," Stover said. "I'm not here to fight with President Trump."

All candidates will appear on a single special election ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-earners will advance to a runoff election.

While Greene spends her final days in the U.S. House of Representatives, several Republican candidates have already announced campaigns to replace her, including business owner and retired FEMA official Star Black, Georgia state Sen. Colton Moore, intelligence professional and veteran Christian Hurd, GOP County Chairman Jim Tully, teacher and businessman Jeff Criswell, and attorney Jared Craig.

Meanwhile, veteran Shawn Harris is running as a Democrat, and businessman Rob Ruskowski is running as an Independent.

"I'm blue-collar," Stover explained. "I relate to the citizens in the district. It's a very red district, but very blue-collar, and that's who I am."

"I don't want to be on the media every day," Stover said. "I'm the kind of guy that likes to work in the background to get things done. I want to work at 5 o'clock in the morning when everybody's asleep, and I want be working at 10 o'clock when everybody is going home."

Before their falling out, Greene was one of Trump's staunchest allies and most vocal supporters in the House. 

"I respect everything she's done," Stover said. "She's worked for the district, but I have a different tactic. I go in, and I like to negotiate through just sitting down, having good, great conversations and ... not being so loud, like she is. She's done a good job, but I wanna work on the needs for the district."

While Stover said he could not think of any issue on which he disagrees with Trump, he emphasized that if a disagreement did arise, he would handle it privately, not by "screaming, beating my chest, thinking I'm going to get something."

"I'm a businessman. You don't get stuff from just going in and trying to be the bull in the china shop, and I can sit down with President Trump, and I guarantee you we can work things out for the best of my district," Stover said.

Stover is self-funding his campaign, explaining to Fox News Digital that it's going to be a short, but expensive, race. 

"To get out front, I've got to self-fund," he said. "It's almost like building a plane and flying it at the same time."