Democrat Jon Ossoff was poised to take first place in the “jungle primary” for the empty seat in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, but it remained unclear whether he was running strong enough to avoid a two-person runoff race that political observers say would favor Republicans.
Democrat Jon Ossoff was poised to take first place in the “jungle primary” for the empty seat in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, but could not avoid a two-person runoff race that political observers say would favor Republicans.
Mr. Ossoff, who ran on the slogan “Make Trump Furious,” needed to win more than 50 percent of the vote to capture the seat outright and he easily cleared that hurdle as counting began shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. But his lead dipped as they night wore on and more votes trickled in.
Runoff race was set for June 20 against the second place finisher Former Secretary of State Karen Handel, time which would give Republicans time to unite against Mr. Ossoff following a campaign fraught with intraparty warfare.
With 67 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr. Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide, clung to 48.6 percent of the vote, putting him well out in front of his closest challengers in the 18-candidate race, who happened to all be Republicans.
Ms. Handel was running second with 19.5 percent of the vote, followed by former state Sen. Judson Hill, 9 percent, former John Creeks city council member Bob Gray, 10.5 percent and former state Sen. Dan Moody, 8.7 percent.
Bragging rights were on the line for Democrats and Republicans in the race for the seat in the wealthy Atlanta suburbs. Since 1979, the GOP has held the seat, which Tom Price vacated to become director of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Progressives declared victory before the final results were tallied, saying Mr. Ossoff’s performance underscored the strength of the “resistance” against President Trump.
“The mere fact that we’re even talking about a competitive race in a congressional district Democrats haven’t held in over 40 years, let alone Jon Ossoff’s sound victory tonight, is a testament to the growing strength of a nationwide, grassroots movement that’s looking for leaders ready to stand up to the Republicans empowering Donald Trump’s hate-fueled agenda,” said Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America, which endorsed Mr. Ossoff early last month.
Mr. Trump waded into the race earlier in the day, calling on Republicans to get out to the polls to ensure that the GOP gets another chance this summer to pick a successor to Mr. Price, who had won 60 percent of the vote in his last three re-election races.
“Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A,” Mr. Trump said on Twitter.
Democrats had hoped to build off the stronger than expected showing last week in the deep red 4th Congressional District in Kansas, where James Thompson came within 7 percentage points of defeating Republican Ron Estes. Five months earlier, Mr. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in that same congressional district by 27 percentage points.
After being criticized for not investing more in Kansas, national Democrats on Tuesday highlighted their involvement in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, which Mr. Trump won by less than 2 percentage points in the November election.
Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, cut robocalls over the final 48 hours of the campaign urging voters to head to the polls to “elect a representative to Congress who will stop Donald Trump and the GOP Congress and who will actually care about people.”
The DNC also targeted voters through a 5-figure digital ad buy and the Association of State Democratic Chairs spearheaded a phone banking effort with state parties around the country.
The national attention helped Mr. Ossoff raise more than $8.3 million for his bid.
Democrats and liberal groups have been dreaming about landing an electoral blow against Mr. Trump, who has struggled to deliver on his vows to repeal and replace Obamacare and overhaul the federal tax code, and also backed away from the hard-line he promised to take against China during the election.
“Tonight once again proves that momentum is clearly on the side of the Resistance and that Donald Trump has no mandate for his dangerous, reckless, and hateful policies,” said Anna Galland, executive director of MoveOn.org.
The National Republican Congressional Committee and the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is dedicated to protecting the House GOP majority, also put their imprint on the race, investing in ground troops and anti-Ossoff television ads.
The GOP criticized Mr. Ossoff for not living in the congressional district, accused him of puffing up his resume, and questioned whether he can be trusted in a television ad that featured an image of Osama bin Laden and highlighted how Mr. Ossoff produced films for Al Jazeera.
Before the results started coming in, some Republican suggested a poor showing for their candidates could serve as a good wake-up call for the party ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections, where Democrats will be angling to capture control of the House and Senate — putting them in a stronger position to block the Trump agenda.
The crowded GOP field in the Georgia race splintered Republicans.
Sen. David Perdue backed Mr. Moody, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida endorsed Mr. Hill. Bruce Levell, who spearheaded minority outreach for the Trump campaign, campaigned with ex-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Mrs. Handel, meanwhile, was endorsed by former Sen. Saxby Chambliss but was attacked by the conservative Club for Growth, which endorsed Mr. Gray.
Mrs. Handel has received support from the Ending Spending anti-spending advocacy group funded by the Ricketts’ family.
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