Handel keeps GOP grip on seat
Republican thanks Trump for support after Georgia win
DUNWOODY, Ga. — Republican Karen Handel won a nationally watched congressional election Tuesday in Georgia, and she thanked President Donald Trump.
Incomplete returns show Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, winning almost 53 percent of the vote over Democrat Jon Ossoff, who won just over 47 percent in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.
“A special thanks to the president of the United States of America,” she said late Tuesday night as her supporters chanted, “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
Handel’s margin allows Republicans a sigh of relief after what’s being recognized as the most expensive House race in U.S history, with a price tag that may exceed $50 million.
Georgia’s outcome follows similar results in Montana, Kansas and South Carolina, where Republicans won special House races by narrower margins than they managed as recently as November.
Republicans immediately crowed over winning a seat that Democrats spent $30 million trying to flip.
“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.
Democrats still must defend their current districts and win 24 Gopheld seats to regain a House majority next November. Party leaders profess encouragement from the trends, but the latest losses mean they will have to rally donors and volunteers after a tough stretch of special elections.
Handel, 55, will become the first Republican woman to represent Georgia in the U.S. House, according to state party officials.
Her win comes after losing bids for governor in 2010 and the Senate in 2014, and it builds on a business and political career she built after leaving an abusive home as a teen.