Democrat leads early returns in Georgia,
DUNWOODY, Ga. — An upstart Democrat leads a special election in a conservative Georgia congressional district, but incomplete returns show he’s barely clinging to the majority required to pull off a shocking upset in the Atlanta suburbs.
Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional staffer, sought to parlay opposition to President Donald Trump into a victory that would rebuke the White House and embolden Democrats ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
With early voting totals and about half of precincts counted, Mr. Ossoff hovered right at the majority threshold required to win an 18-candidate primary outright in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. But tens of thousands of votes remained uncounted, and Mr. Ossoff’s lead has been shrinking as more precincts roll in across a district that has been held by a Republican since Newt Gingrich was elected here in 1978.
The trends point increasingly toward a June 20 runoff that would pit Mr. Ossoff against the top Republican vote-getter. Former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel is a distant second behind Mr. Ossoff but has a comfortable lead over other Republican candidates.
Republicans nationally and in Georgia acknowledged before polls opened that Mr. Ossoff would top the slate of Republicans, Democrats and independents who appeared together on one primary ballot. The question was whether Mr. Ossoff could win outright
The winner will succeed Tom Price, who resigned to become Mr. Trump’s health secretary.
The contest is testing both parties’ strategies for the upcoming national election cycle. National attention, already significant, intensified after last week’s closer-than-expected GOP victory in a Kansas special House election.
Mr. Trump did not perform as well as other Republicans last November in the Georgia district, an affluent, well-educated swath filled with the kind of voters Democrats need if they hope to reclaim a House majority next year.
Republicans currently hold a 238-193 advantage in the chamber.
An investigative filmmaker, Mr. Ossoff raised more than $8.3 million, mostly from donors far from the northern suburbs of Atlanta. That sum dwarfs what any Republican candidate has spent on the contest.
Mr. Ossoff has energized liberals and younger voters, while also aiming for disaffected independents and moderate Republicans.
Mr. Ossoff has pledged to fight Mr. Trump when he “embarrasses” the country. But he’s also said he would “work with anybody in Washington who respects your tax dollars.”
That’s a nod to the Republicans and independents he’d need to win — whether Tuesday or in a runoff.
Among other top Republicans in the race, technology executive Bob Gray and two former state senators, Dan Moody and Judson Hill, are battling Ms. Handel in a fight for the No. 2 spot.
Ms. Handel has maintained distance from Mr. Trump, rarely discussing him unless asked. Mr. Gray has called himself a “willing partner” for the president.
National Republicans say any of the four competitive GOP candidates could defeat Mr. Ossoff in a second round. They predict conservative voters would be energized in a Republican vs. Democrat scenario.