Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District Tuesday, providing a much-needed lift to President Trump and GOP majorities in Congress.
Handel fended off a furious challenge from the Democrats, winning a vacant seat in suburban Atlanta that has been in GOP hands since future House Speaker Newt Gingrich won it in 1978.
Her victory over Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary filmaker whose campaign was fueled by more than $23 million financed by energized liberals who were motivated by their strong opposition to Trump, is likely to quell Republican nerves across Washington.
The party has been under siege, dealing with a special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that could implicate Trump and struggling to move legislation to partially repeal Obamacare.
Ossoff fell short despite Trump’s low approval ratings and frustration with the Republican majorities on Capitol Hill, derailed by GOP attacks about his residency — he did not live in the district and couldn’t vote for himself — and that a vote for him was a vote for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., a reviled figure on the Right.
Ossoff also failed to capitalize on his financial advantage. Republican groups collectively kept Handel’s underfunded campaign competitive with millions invested in television adverstising and field oprations. Handel, 55, is the former Georgia secretary of state.
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Republicans breathe easy after Handel beats Ossoff in Georgia https://t.co/3IExSfA2yu pic.twitter.com/0Ill18fefb
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) June 21, 2017
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