Georgia Democrat finds support in Republican territory
President attacks via Twitter blast
ALPHARETTA, Georgia — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday attacked his political enemies seeking an upset in Georgia’s special congressional election, blasting the leading Democratic candidate as a “super liberal” who “wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!”
Trump did not expound on his accusations about 30-year-old Jon Ossoff, but the president’s Twitter broadside just a day before the special primary underscores how big a Democratic victory would be nationwide and in the historically conservative northern suburbs of Atlanta.
Ossoff, who has used antiTrump sentiments nationally to collect at least $8.3 million US in campaign contributions, countered Monday that Trump is “misinformed,” but added that he’s “glad the president is interested in the race.”
Republicans and Democrats alike see the closely watched contest as an important barometer of Trump’s standing ahead of 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats will try to regain control of Congress.
The Georgia district, represented previously by Trump’s new health secretary, Tom Price, encompasses reliably Republican territory across parts of three metro Atlanta counties. But Trump underperformed here in November, barely edging Democrat Hillary Clinton and falling short of a majority.
In 2012, by contrast, Republican nominee Mitt Romney garnered more than 60 per cent of the vote.
Even the leading Republican candidates concede that Ossoff will lead an 18-candidate “jungle primary” that places all candidates on the same ballot. The question is whether he can win an outright majority.
Republican hopeful Karen Handel said Monday that she is confident enough Republicans will cast ballots to hold Ossoff short of a majority, thus setting up a June 20 runoff between the Democratic upstart and today’s top Republican performer.
“Republican voters are not going to sit by and let this district go to a Democrat,” Handel said.
But the mere possibility has political observers across the country watching.
Both major parties see the educated, affluent district as a key test of Trump’s popularity among the kinds of voters who will decide whether to hand House control back to Democrats next year.
The attention grew more intense after last week’s special congressional election in Kansas, where Republican Ron Estes won by just seven percentage points in a Wichita-based district that Trump had carried easily.
For her part, Handel, a GOP establishment favourite who served previously as Georgia secretary of state, has worked not to localize the race.
“My closing argument is the same as my opening argument, that we need an experienced individual with a track record of delivering real results,” she said as she campaigned in an upscale shopping district Monday.
That has made her an outlier among top Republican contenders.
Wealthy technology executive Bob Gray has cozied up to Trump from the start, running ads that show him, literally, draining a swamp — a nod to one of Trump’s campaign signatures. Gray pledges to be a “willing partner” for the new administration.
Former state Sen. Judson Hill is touting his endorsement from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, one of gaggle of Republican presidential hopefuls that Trump vanquished. Hill’s campaign used Rubio on a recorded phone pitch to Republican households over the weekend.
Ossoff, meanwhile, has tried to capitalize on intense anti-Trump sentiments among liberals, while still coaxing disaffected independents and moderate Republicans who normally wouldn’t consider voting Democratic.
In his response to Trump’s tweet, Ossoff said he is “focused on bringing fresh leadership, accountability and bipartisan problem solving to Washington.”