Rep. Jody B. Hice, a conservative Georgia Republican, said Monday he would not seek reelection in his district, sandwiched between Atlanta and Augusta. Instead, he plans to run for Georgia’s secretary of state, creating an open seat race in the 10th District.

Hice easily won reelection in November, taking 62 percent against Democrat Tabitha Johnson-Green.

In his new race, Hice says he is taking on fellow Republican and current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who defended Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results after voters in the state narrowly went for President Joe Biden. The losing candidate, former President Donald Trump, offered an endorsement of Hice, who was a pastor and radio talk show personality before entering the House. 

“Every Georgian, in fact, every American has the right to be outraged by the actions and, simultaneously, the inaction of our Secretary of State,” Hice, who was first elected in 2014, said in a statement.   

In Congress, Hice has served in the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, and he was among 147 House and Senate Republicans who voted in January against certifying the Electoral College results for Biden. 

Trump, in an email Monday, offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” of Hice’s bid for secretary of state in Georgia. 

“Jody has been a steadfast fighter for conservative Georgia values and is a staunch ally of the America First agenda,” Trump said in the statement.