In Georgia, House race seen as test after Trump win
Democrats pounce on opportunity in a solidly GOP district
A closely watched special election in Georgia’s 6th congressional district could be the most significant electoral duel between the Democratic and Republican parties since President Trump’s November election.
Voters headed to the polls Tuesday in a suburban Atlanta district that’s been solidly Republican for almost four decades, with occupants including former House speaker Newt Gingrich, but Trump’s 1-point victory there signaled potential trouble for the GOP.
Trump’s under performance gave the Democratic Party hopes of issuing a rebuke to the new president in the form of a congressional victory Tuesday. National progressive groups helped direct volunteers and $8.3 million gathered in small donations from around the nation to support the Democrat, 30-year-old Jon Ossoff.
With results from more than half the precincts counted, Ossoff led Republican Karen Handel by a wide margin, but it was uncertain whether he could avoid a runoff June 20.
Recent polls had showed the former Capitol Hill staffer falling short of the 50% margin he would need to avoid a runoff. A contest between the top two vote-getters would mean Democrats throw even more resources into the race and give Republicans time to coalesce around a single candidate.
“Even if (Ossoff ) gets close, we have another two months of an election. No one should conclude it’s a done deal and the Republican will win. Though I think ultimately that’s what will happen,” said Eric Tanenblatt, a 30-year veteran of Georgia GOP politics and former Republican president candidate Mitt Romney’s state director.
Democrats say the race should never have been this tight, projecting vulnerability ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The seat was previously occupied by Rep. Tom Price, who won by 24 points in November and went on to become Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary. It comes on the heels of another unusually close race in a red district in Kansas that Trump won by 27 points. Last week, the Democrat candidate lost by just 7 points even though the national party hardly lifted a finger to help him.
That’s unlike in Georgia, where Democrats are pouring in as many resources as possible. If Ossoff fails to garner 50% of the vote on Tuesday and loses in June, it will be a setback to Democrats’ hopes of arguing the race portends a wave election in 2018 putting Democrats back in control of the U.S. House.
Republicans are trying to use all of the national attention against Ossoff, painting him as a tool of far-left activists seeking to hijack the race. In a taped robocall, Trump said “Liberal Democrats from outside of Georgia are spending millions and millions of dollars trying to take your Republican congressional seat away from you.”