Story highlights The early voting in the runoff left neither party feeling comfortable

The 36,000 early voters who didn't participate in the primary are among the major question marks

(CNN) More than 140,000 voters had cast their ballots by the time early voting in Georgia closed Friday -- another indication of sky-high turnout in the closely watched runoff for a House seat between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel.

And that's leaving neither side confident of victory in what is likely to be a tight race for Georgia's 6th Congressional District seat.

The pool of early voters includes more than 36,000 who did not participate in the April primary contest for the seat, which was vacated when former Rep. Tom Price became President Donald Trump's health and human services secretary, according to the Georgia secretary of state's office.

The early vote total soared past the 57,000 who voted early in the primary, where Ossoff reached 48%, just shy of the majority that would have avoided the runoff entirely. Ultimately, more than 192,000 people voted in the primary -- close to the 210,000 who participated in the 2014 midterm election in the district.

The early voting in the runoff left neither party feeling comfortable and has aides on both sides forecasting a close contest Tuesday -- even as Republicans celebrated turnout that is approaching presidential election levels in the conservative-leaning district.

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