Georgia Election 2017: How Much Money Is Being Spent Between Democrats, Republicans For House Seat?
The special House race in Georgia’s sixth district has become the most expensive in history, according to reports. With President Trump looming large over a campaign that has garnered national attention, Democrats and Republicans are looking to fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in the June 20 election.
The contenders are Democrat Jon Ossoff, a first-time candidate, and Republican Karen Handel, who was previously the Secretary of State of Georgia. Before entering politics, the 55-year-old Handel was a businesswoman who began her second career when she was elected to Fulton County Board of Commissioners. She also ran for U.S. Senate and governor.
Ossoff, 30, is a former congressional aide and documentary filmmaker. The political newcomer almost won the seat outright in a 16-candidate field in April, but came up short, forcing a runoff.
Read: Will Jon Ossoff Win In Georgia's June Election? Young Democrat Has A Shot, Poll Shows
The Washington Post reports that as of Thursday more than $40 million has been spent on the race, much of it coming from outside groups. Ossoff’s campaign has raised $23 million overall with $15 million raised in the last two months. Handel has only pulled in just under $4 million in the same two-month period, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
According to Ossoff’s campaign, his average donation size was $20.49. Ossoff has spent most of the money raised having just $1 million on hand as of Friday. Handel is in a similar boat with only $1.4 million in the bank, the Journal-Constitution reports. Roughly $25 million has been spent on advertising.
The district has been reliably Republican for almost 40 years and was once represented by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan have made efforts to keep the seat red.
"Karen Handel will partner with President Donald Trump to make America safe and prosperous again," Pence told GOP donors last week.
Democrats are pinning their hopes on flipping the district and may have confidence they can pull it off based on Ossoff’s primary performance and Trump’s razor-thin margin there last year. Trump edged out Hillary Clinton by only 1.5 points.
On Friday, the Journal-Constitution released a poll showing Ossoff with a seven-point edge over Handel, with a 51 to 44 percent margin. The poll showed 5 percent of voters undecided. The poll’s margin of error is 4 percent. Women prefer Ossoff almost 2-to-1 and he leads that constituency 60 to 34 percent. Handel does better with men who prefer the Republican 52 to 41 percent. Ossoff is leading the younger vote, while seniors over 65 prefer Handel.
One of the key numbers from the Journal-Constitution’s poll is that Ossoff is pulling in 13 percent of Republicans and about half of independents.
Trump’s presidency has placed a higher focus on House races this years, with Democrats framing the contests as referendums. The last two House races in Kansas and Montana saw an increased amount of funding and attention. Both races were in comfortably Republican districts, and ultimately won by the GOP. Those two districts favored Trump by 20 points or more.
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