In Georgia, Karen Handel staves off national Democratic challenge

Eliza Collins | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Handel maintains Republican stronghold seat in Georgia In a special election held on June 20th, Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the most expensive congressional race in history.

WASHINGTON — Republican Karen Handel won Georgia’s special election Tuesday, keeping in GOP hands a seat Democrats had hoped would be the first evidence that the party can retake control of the House.

“Tonight I stand before you extraordinarily humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility that you and the people across the 6th district have given me to represent you in the United States House of Representatives," Handel told supporters at her victory party Tuesday night.

Democrats had been pinning their hopes on Jon Ossoff — a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide — against the former Georgia secretary of state. Leading up to the election, polls gave Ossoff a slight edge, but barely. Most political experts saw the race as a tossup and said turnout would be critical. Georgia doesn't often have competitive congressional races. In fact, out of the last 69 races since 2008, just one was decided by a margin less than 5 points, according to an analysis by Smart Politics.

“This is not the outcome any of were hoping for, but this is the beginning of something much bigger than us," Ossoff told supporters Tuesday night. "We showed the world that in places where no one thought it was even possible to fight, we could fight.”

Handel reached out to Ossoff supporters. "Know that my commitments, they extend to every one of you as well," she said. "We may have some different beliefs but we are part of one community, the community of the 6th District. And I will work just as hard to earn your confidence in the weeks and months ahead."

Karen Handel thanks Trump in victory speech The crowd chanted President Trump's name after Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the hotly contested Georgia special election to fill Tom Price's former seat in the House of Representatives.

On Tuesday night in South Carolina, Republican Ralph Norman won the special election to replace former Rep. Mick Mulvaney, who President Trump appointed head of the White House Office of Management and Budget. In addition to Georgia, Norman’s win over Democrat Archie Parnell made four special elections where Democrats failed to capture a Republican seat this year. The South Carolina race was expected to go for Norman and received far less attention than Georgia’s, but the race turned out to be closer than expected.

Democrats around the country poured a record-breaking $23 million for Ossoff. Handel has not released her most recent fundraising numbers, but multiple analyses put the race at more than $50 million in total, including spending from outside groups. Democrats saw the race as a chance to prove Trump's unpopularity, even in a traditionally Republican district.

Ossoff had the support of more than 11,000 volunteers, according to his campaign, but it didn't prove to be enough. In particular, some suburban women who felt frustrated by the results of the 2016 election decided to volunteer for him. One mom told USA TODAY she has knocked on more than 1,500 doors to convince people to vote for Ossoff.

Handel — who has run for both the governor’s mansion and the Senate before — had a series of high-profile supporters such as Vice President Pence and former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue campaigning in the district. President Trump has also fundraised on her behalf and offered his support on Twitter.

He took credit on Twitter by tweeting out a Fox News quote.

Thank you @FoxNews "Huge win for President Trump and GOP in Georgia Congressional Special Election." — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2017

Trump's sons also gloated over the win shortly after the race was called.

Congratulations dems that's the most expensive participation medal ev... um since November. #maga — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 21, 2017

4-0. Kansas (Ron Estes), Montana (Greg Gianforte), South Carolina (Ralph Norman) and now Georgia (Karen Handel). #MAGA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/Oq8LX9odsh — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) June 21, 2017

While Tom Price — who is now Health and Human Services secretary — won the district by more than 20 percentage points in November, Trump beat Hillary Clinton there by less than 2%. Handel beat Ossoff by about 5%.

Ossoff grew up in the district but currently does not live there. He lives near Emory University while his fiancee finishes medical school. Ossoff told USA TODAY that the issue didn't matter to voters and he is "proud to support her career even if I take some heat for it." But Republicans made the issue central to their campaign.

Handel told USA TODAY last week that voters were "incredibly enthusiastic" in "making sure that our next congressman be someone from this district, someone who has the deep relationships and connections that I have here.”

On Tuesday morning when Handel cast her vote, she said: “He wishes he could vote like me, because he doesn’t live in the district," according to The Hill.

Contributing: Fredreka Schouten

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