Between the fundraising and national attention, it all appeared just peachy for Jon Ossoff. Then Georgia voted.
Republican Karen Handel won election to the House in the state’s 6th congressional district Tuesday night, sneaking past Ossoff, her young Democratic challenger, with a surprising 52.1 percent of the vote. Her victory keeps for the GOP a seat that Democrats targeted with chests of donor money and anti-Trump sentiment, leaving frustrated progressives on the hunt for signs of political life.
The district is traditionally red: House speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Johnny Isakson, and current Health and Human Services secretary Tom Price were its last three representatives. “These statesmen have created very, very big shoes to fill, and I will do my level best to live up to the standards that they have set,” Handel told supporters.
But the district barely supported Donald Trump in the presidential election, and gerrymandering and shifting demographics have turned that red a shade of pink in recent years. Democrats highlighted the 6th as a pickup opportunity in a special election season that has seen Republicans in Kansas, Montana, and South Carolina (also Tuesday) triumph. Ossoff, 30, raised more than $23 million and burned through almost all of it, in what became the most expensive House race in history—and one of the most high-profile. Celebrities shined a spotlight on his campaign. National media shined one on the district.
In the lead-up to the vote, Ossoff appeared well-positioned to pull off the upset. He led in most polls since May and appeared to have the most enthusiasm on his side. But a majority of the 6th’s voters stayed at home: not in their houses (a record turnout was expected), but at the ballot box, opting for the familiarity of Republican representation.
Handel was gracious in her victory speech, including to President Donald Trump. She gave the commander in chief a “special thanks,” which was resoundingly cheered by her supporters and prompted a chant of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” His aura loomed large over the campaign. But Handel kept the president at arm’s length; although Trump campaigned for her and she complimented him, she rarely went out of her way to mention him on the stump and focused her race on the district and typical policy issues.
The same can be said, interesting enough, of Ossoff. Despite being fueled by the so-called Trump “resistance,” his campaign pivoted to a Georgia-focused message of jobs and responsible federal spending. He prided himself on being a “pragmatist”—an untested idea, since he lacked a voting record and a history of campaigning prior to January. More than anything, though, Ossoff represented a vessel for the energy of progressives nationwide, something Speaker Paul Ryan noted in his congratulations to Handel.
“Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated,” he said in a statement.
Handel said she was “extraordinarily humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility” that comes with her victory. She also emphasized civility, in the shadows of last week’s shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise and four others in Alexandria, Va. She called for a respectful tone in public discourse and practiced it herself in her speech, wishing Ossoff and his fiancé well.
