Ga. DO-Or-DIe

Fight over House seat critical for Don, Dems, GOP

DEMOCRATS ARE ON the verge of scoring their first major victory of the Trump era in a race that’s turned into a key test for the resistance.

In the most expensive House race in U.S. history, Democrat Jon Ossoff has been tied with or held a narrow lead in recent polls against former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.

Strategists in both parties say Tuesday’s election will be a nailbiter — and admit that they have a lot riding on a race where spending has totaled $40 million, more than many presidential candidates raise.

“A victory for Jon means we’re going to take the House. The path he’s taking to win is replicable in districts that are like his but not quite as hard,” Democratic Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams, who’s running for governor, told the Daily News. “If he falls short it signals that we have more work to do.”

The upscale, well-educated suburban Atlanta district was once solidly Republican, but Trump barely won it last fall. When he plucked Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to be his secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services, Democrats saw an opportunity in a place where they haven’t competed for a generation, and poured money and volunteers into the region. Ossoff had raised a whopping $23 million as of the beginning of June, while GOP outside groups have deluged the district to keep Handel near spending parity.

Special elections can be quirky and their predictive power for general elections is limited. But there’s a ton at stake psychologically for both sides, as Democrats have gone all-in on their first real chance to steal a seat from the GOP since Trump’s election.

An Ossoff win in a district that remains heavily Republican would be like adding a gallon of hot sauce to Republicans’ already-churning stomachs, hurting their fund-raising efforts and potentially leading some swingdistrict members to retire rather than face a brutal election environment.

A loss there deprives Democrats of their last opportunity for a special election House win this year, taking some wind out of their sails as they look ahead to 2018 and casting doubt on their playbook of winning back the House through Democratictrending suburban seats.

“Either side gains from a win but they lose more by a loss," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), who once represented the district, told The News.

Chip Lake, a senior Georgia Republican strategist who ran Price’s first race in the district, said a Democratic win there “means it’s gut-check time for our party nationally.”

“I think you have to be very concerned about it. This is the south, it’s a suburban seat, it’s upper middle class. If these seats are competitive it doesn’t bode well… we could lose the House,” he added. “We’re going to face a very, very challenging environment in November of 2018 and we’ve got to figure out a way to

limit the damage.”