What to watch for at tonight’s Handel-Ossoff debate

Hot-button issues in 1st face-off include Trump, health care, terrorism.

Georgia’s 6th District House seat may serve a compact portion of the north Atlanta suburbs, but national issues are likely to dominate the first head-to-head debate between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff Tuesday.

The duo will meet in primetime on WSB-TV. It’s the first of two confirmed face-offs between Ossoff and Handel as early voting continues ahead of Election Day on June 20.

A bad performance for either could prove to be a stumbling block in a three-county district where tens of millions are being spent to capture the attention of voters.

More than $36 million has been spent on the race so far, according to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis, making the contest the most expensive in the

history of the U.S. House.

Tonight’s debate will give Handel and Ossoff their first real opportunity to connect with a general audience beyond the 30- or 60-second increments of their radio and television ads. Here’s what to watch for:

■ The Trump factor. Ossoff jumped into the 6th District contest with a pledge to “Make Trump Furious,” but the 30-year-old political newbie has since largely distanced himself from that rhetoric.

Lately, he’s avoided mentioning the president’s name at all at campaign events or weighing in on many of the young administration’s biggest controversies.

Does he continue on that path during the WSB debate, less than two days before former FBI Director James Comey’s highly anticipated testimony on Capitol Hill about President Donald Trump and the Russia probe?

Also worth noting is how much Handel chooses to discuss Trump. The former secretary of state kept her distance from the White House during the first round of the race, but she’s since embraced the administration wholeheartedly.

Handel stumped with Trump during his visit to Atlanta in April, and she is expected to appear with Vice President Mike Pence on Friday.

Given that Trump won the 6th District by less than 2 percentage points in November, how does he come into play in this debate?

■ Health care showdown. Expect health care to get top-tier showing during Tuesday’s debate. It is being co-sponsored by the AARP, after all. Handel and Ossoff are starkly divided when it comes to Obamacare and the GOP’s effort to repeal and replace the 7-year-old law. Handel is supportive of House Republicans’ bill, the American Health Care Act.

Ossoff, meanwhile, has registered his strong opposition to the legislation, saying it would put “Georgians’ lives at risk.”

Abortion is also likely to emerge as another major point of contention Tuesday. The pair have tangled over the divisive issue for weeks, centering mainly on Handel’s short tenure at the Susan G. Komen Foundation and its high-profile aftermath. Ossoff and Handel have run opposing advertisements on the issue.

■ Terrorism and national security. Some of the most controversial advertisements in this race have come from outside groups invoking images of the Islamic State, Syrian refugees and Osama bin Laden as arguments for why Ossoff is weak on national security. Will Handel choose to tackle those issues in the same way? And will she bring up one of the GOP’s favorite anti-Ossoff attack lines, his tenure as a staffer on Capitol Hill?

Opponents say he exaggerated his resume to beef up his national security experience. Ossoff has dismissed those attacks as a “partisan smear by Washington super PACs.”

■ Wooing independent voters. They are the holy grail in this race. Winning the group will be essential for Handel and Ossoff on June 20, so how do they use an hour of uninterrupted television time to do so?

Voters have been bombarded with attack ads for the better part of three months, but much of this race has been defined by the messages of outside groups.

What happens when the candidates get time to define the debate on their own terms?

Ossoff has recently adopted an anti-government waste stance and discussing investment in the tech sector.

Does he focus on those issues Tuesday or will he offer new across-the-aisle proposals? Handel has mainly played to her base in this race so far. Does she shift toward the center?