Republican Handel wins in Georgia’s pricey race
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Republicans avoided an upset Tuesday night in the race for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, where the fight for the vacant seat became the most expensive House race in U.S. history ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Republican Karen Handel received about 52 percent of the vote over Democrat Jon Ossoff, who had nearly 48 percent.
Voter turnout in the district, which covers Atlanta’s northern suburbs, exceeded any past nonpresidential-year election. That reflects the attention and energy surrounding the race that both parties saw as key early in Donald Trump’s presidency.
Handel celebrated early numbers with her supporters, saying she improved on her April primary performance.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do, which was to make sure we kept things really close in absentee ballot and in-person early voting,” Handel said as she waited for the election results with her husband, Steve.
“I wanted to come down and really give an extraordinarily heartfelt thank you to every single one of you in this room,” she told supporters, her voice slightly cracking. “Campaigns, they obviously keep the doors open
because of the contributions from donors. But campaigns are won by the foot soldiers and people like you.”
At his post-election rally, Ossoff said his supporters served as a “beacon of hope” for people around the world. He said that while it’s not the outcome he and others were hoping for, “this is the beginning of something much bigger than us.” He added later: “The fight goes on.”
Republicans immediately bragged over winning the seat that Democrats spent $30 million trying to claim. “Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement.
Trump tweeted his congratulations to Handel on her “big win,” saying “we are all very proud of you.”
Handel, 55, Georgia’s former secretary of state, was fighting to claim a seat that’s been in her party’s hands since 1979. Ossoff, a 30-yearold first-time candidate, was hoping for an upset, something that would rattle Washington ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The matchup was viewed as a proxy for the national political atmosphere and a test of GOP strength, prompting record-breaking spending in excess of $50 million, a deluge of advertising and out-of-state volunteers, and more than a few tweets from the White House.
Voting technology activists also were keeping a close eye on the race after new details emerged last week about a security lapse at the center that manages Georgia’s election technology. State officials say they’re confident the technology is secure.
Throughout Tuesday af- ternoon, most polling places remained busy, although torrential rain slowed the lunchtime turnout, and there were flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service. Voting hours were extended by 30 minutes at two polling places where voters experienced delays casting ballots electronically Tuesday morning. All other polls closed at 7 p.m.
A HARD-FOUGHT RACE
Handel and Ossoff have tried to say this race wasn’t about Trump or Washington, but the president and the GOP agenda on Capitol Hill dominated the campaign.
Attorney David Ware said he voted for Ossoff because the Democrat supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — the 2010 health care law. Handel and Trump want to overhaul it.
Ahead of the election results, he said: “We have a chance to make a decision about who’s going to lead us whether the president is there or not there, whether his policies are good or bad,” said Ware, 63.
“This is such an important election because of what goes on in D.C.,” said Tom Greathouse, 52, a business owner who supported Handel. He added that there’s been “a ton of emotion” in a district used to watching Republicans coast.
At Handel’s final campaign event Monday in Roswell, Georgia’s Republican Gov. Nathan Deal boasted of having spent 17 years in Congress before becoming governor. Deal said Ossoff “never had a real job.”
As Deal spoke about how Handel would be the first woman to serve in Georgia’s congressional delegation, he kept returning to her credentials.
“We are hungry for qualified, capable women that carry the Republican banner,” Deal said.
Ossoff is a former congressional staff member turned documentary filmmaker who has become a symbol of the anti-Trump movement. Yet Ossoff barely mentioned Trump, talking instead in generalities about “restoring civility” and Congress’ oversight role.
Handel embraced her experience as a statewide and local elected official, often telling voters: “You know me.”
She’s also known for being a Susan G. Komen foundation executive in 2012 when the organization sought to cut off its support of Planned Parenthood.
Handel handled Trump gingerly during the campaign. She barely mentioned him ahead of finishing second to Ossoff in an April primary but welcomed him for a private fundraiser later that month.
That didn’t stop Trump from weighing in on the race.
“Karen Handel for Congress,” Trump tweeted as day broke Tuesday, touting the Republican candidate and former Georgia secretary of state. “She will fight for lower taxes, great health care strong security — a hard worker who will never give up! Vote today!”
Trump also tweeted that Ossoff would raise taxes, was weak on crime and “doesn’t even live in [the] district.” Ossoff lives in Atlanta, south of the suburban district. He has said he grew up in the district and now lives close to Emory University, where his fiancee attends medical school.
Ossoff raised more than $23 million, most from outside Georgia. He emphasized that it was mostly from individual donors. Handel said many of those people live in Democratic-leaning states. His party provided another $5 million.
Handel raised more than $5 million, not a paltry sum in a congressional race, but barely a fifth of Ossoff’s fundraising haul. The Republican campaign establishment, however, helped make up the difference. A super political action committee backed by Ryan spent $7 million alone.
Handel benefited from outside money, too. It just didn’t flow through her campaign, which raised $5 million thanks in part to three fundraisers headlined by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Ryan.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee backed by Ryan, spent $7 million on her behalf. National Republicans’ House campaign arm added $4.5 million, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce chipped in another seven figures.
In the past, the district elected former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; Johnny Isakson, now Georgia’s senior U.S. senator; and most recently Tom Price, who held it from 2005 until resigning in February to join Trump’s administration. Trump barely edged out Democrat Hillary Clinton in the 6th District in November.
Republicans also saw House special election victories earlier this year in GOPheld districts in Kansas and Montana.
Separately, Republicans held on to another seat Tuesday in South Carolina, where Ralph Norman won a special election to fill the congressional seat vacated by Mick Mulvaney, who resigned to become the White House budget director.
Norman, a millionaire real estate developer and former state lawmaker, ran against Democrat Archie Parnell for Mulvaney’s seat. National surrogates stumped for both. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina campaigned with Norman, while national Democratic Chairman Tom Perez campaigned for Parnell.
Democrats had held the South Carolina seat for more than a century until Mulvaney rode a tea party wave to defeat longtime incumbent John Spratt in 2010. The GOP ticket defeated Clinton by more than 18 percentage points in November.
Information for this article was contributed by Bill Barrow, Kathleen Foody,Alex Sanz and Meg Kinnard of The Associated Press; and by Robert Costa, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck of