KAREN HANDEL (R) DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (D); CONGRATS

KAREN HANDEL DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (CONGRATS):

AMERICA IS TIRED OF POLITICS WHICH DIVIDES OUR GREAT NATION.

VOTERS ARE TIRED OF DEMOCRATS' POLITICAL INTIMIDATION & CORRUPTION.


Sources: CNN, Fox News, YouTube


****** Republican Handel wins Georgia special House election


Republican Karen Handel on Tuesday night defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s record-spending, special-election House race, according to the Associated Press.

With all precincts reporting, Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, led Ossoff 52 percent to 48 percent -- a margin of nearly 11,000 votes out of more than 250,000 ballots cast.

The race smashed fundraising records for a House contest -- with both campaigns and outside groups combining to spend a record $50 million.

Ossoff’s defeat was another setback for Democrats hoping to capitalize on President Trump’s low approval ratings to win a long-standing Republican seat.

It was the party’s fourth straight defeat this year in attempts to win a Republican seat and take the momentum into the 2018 midterms. They now must win 24 GOP House seats to retake control of the chamber next year.

“This race was going to require all hands on deck, and that’s what we had,” Handel said at her victory party. “Tonight’s victory is for you. It’s for every citizen in the 6th (Congressional) District.”

To be sure, the contest was close since Handel and Ossoff were the top finishers in April's first balloting, which sent them to Tuesday’s runoff.

Ossoff lead by nearly 5 percentage points as recently as June 12, before the race deadlocked in the final days, according to the RealClearPolitics.com polls average.

The 30-year-old Ossoff, whose campaign was hurt by revelations that he didn’t live in the suburban Atlanta district, thanked his campaign team and voters in a short concession speech.

“Thank you for the most extraordinary process that I have ever been a part of,” Ossoff said. “The fight goes on. Hope is still alive.”

The House seat has been occupied by Republicans since 1979. GOP Rep. Tom Price gave up the seat in February to become Health and Human Services secretary.

President Trump didn’t campaign in Georgia for Handel. But he attacked Ossoff on Twitter for living outside the district and warned voters that he would increase taxes and be soft on national security.

Handel supporters chanted “Trump, Trump, Trump” at her victory party. And the president tweeted his own message of congratulations.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also congratulated Handel, saying, “Karen is all business. I’ve campaigned with her, and I know how eager she is to get to work. I’m excited to have her as a partner in the House.”

Ossoff tried to thread the needle in the conservative-leaning Georgia district by vowing to cut taxes for small businesses, while championing equal rights for women and minorities, which earned him the support of civil rights icon and Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis.

Handel touted her experience as a state and local elected official and argued that outside forces were trying to buy a win.

Voters “are not interested in Hollywood and California coming in and buying this seat,” she said Tuesday morning on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed just 3.5 percent of Ossoff’s donations between the end of March and May came from Georgia.

Still, Handel also benefited from outside spending, though most didn’t go directly to her campaign.

Groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee backed by Ryan, have spent millions on her behalf.

Also on Tuesday, Republicans held onto the House seat in South Carolina that was vacated in February by Mick Mulvaney so he could become the White House budget director. Millionaire developer Ralph Norman, the Republican, defeated former Goldman Sachs tax adviser Archie Parnell, the Democrat, in a closer-than-expected contest.

The other two special-election races this year in which Democrats failed to win a GOP House seat were in Kansas and Montana.

In Kansas, Republicans held onto the seat of Mike Pompeo, now the CIA director, and they kept the Montana seat of Ryan Zinke, who became Trump’s secretary of Interior.

Democrats have one last outside chance to win a GOP House seat, Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s in a conservative Utah. The special election is on August 15. Democrats won one special House election this year, holding onto the California seat vacated by Xavier Becerra.

While Republicans have held the Georgia seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took it from Democrats nearly four decades ago, the district does not appear as conservative as in years past.

Trump won the district over Democrat Hillary Clinton last year by just 1.5 percent, compared to 2008 when Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain won by 18.9 percent.

The race attracted national attention and record money, but Georgia voters also took a big interest in the outcome.

More than 40,000 people voted early, including 36,000 who didn't vote in the April contest.

HANDEL vs OSSOFF - GEORGIA SPECIAL ELECTION CONGRESSIONAL RACE (POLLS)

HANDEL vs OSSOFF - GEORGIA SPECIAL ELECTION CONGRESSIONAL RACE:

CURRENT POLLS ARE TOO CLOSE TO SPECULATE.


Sources: Newsweek, WSB-TV, YouTube


****** GEORGIA SPECIAL ELECTION BETWEEN HANDEL AND OSSOFF TOO CLOSE TO CALL, POLL SUGGESTS


Democrat Jon Ossoff holds a very slight lead over Republican Karen Handel in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District as Tuesday’s much-anticipated special election runoff approaches.

The most recent poll, from Atlanta local television station WSB and Landmark Communications, has Ossoff up by just under two points. Ossoff is supported by 49.7 percent of likely voters, while 48 percent support Handel.

The runoff election in the traditionally solidly Republican district has attracted immense national attention as Democrats look for their first major electoral victory during President Donald Trump’s presidency. It is the most expensive congressional race in history, with over $50 million spent, mostly from out-of-state donors.

"Ossoff has the lead.… Handel is very close behind him,” pollster Mark Rountree told WSB. “So either candidate could win.”

Ossoff and Handel are running to fill the seat left vacant by Tom Price, appointed by Trump as secretary of health and human services. Ossoff, a former congressional staffer, nearly won the election outright with 48.1 percent in the primary. Handel, the former Georgia secretary of state, topped nearly a dozen other Republicans with just under 20 percent of the total vote.

Both sides have poured money into the campaign, which many are calling a referendum on Trump. The poll, which surveyed 800 likely voters, found that 91 percent of Ossoff voters had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, while 78 percent of Handel voters have a favorable opinion of the president. While Price won the suburban Atlanta seat by 23 points in 2016, Trump only edged Clinton by 1.5 points.

In response to the poll, Handel and Ossoff both said the race was too close to call.

"It's about where we would've expected,” Handel said. “It's a dead heat, neck and neck, and is all about turnout.”

Ossoff has maintained a lead over Handel since the primary, with a late May poll putting him seven points ahead. More recent polls have shown a tighter race.

Last week’s shooting at a GOP congressional baseball practice and subsequent threats against Handel may be last-minute game changers. Police blocked streets in Handel’s neighborhood after packages “with threatening letters and a suspicious substance” were delivered to her and her neighbors, according to her campaign.

The suspicious packages have increasingly become a campaign narrative. Some believe the shooting and threats may be able to push Handel to victory.

“I think the shooting is going to win this election for us,” Brad Carver, chairman of the Republican party in the neighboring 11th congressional district, told The Washington Post. “Because moderates and independents in this district are tired of left-wing extremism.”

Ossoff, who said he has also received threats, condemned the shooting and called for unity.