South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham thinks his party will win the runoff election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, but believes Tuesday night’s vote should be a wake-up call to southern Republicans.
“The South is changing… I like our chances in a runoff, but we need to wake up as a Party.” @LindseyGrahamSC talks Georgia election pic.twitter.com/z658IhAG5u— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 19, 2017
Graham said on NBC Wednesday Democrat Jon Ossoff’s first-place showing in the primary election is a sign that the south is changing. Ossoff got 48 percent of the vote, just short of the 50 percent needed to win the election outright, without a runoff.
“The south is changing. Atlanta is changing. And I like our chances in a runoff, but we need to wake up as a party,” Graham said. “There’s districts like this all over the country that are getting much more moderate.”
Ossoff will face Karen Handel, the top Republican vote-getter in the race, in a June special election for the seat that had been held by Rep. Tom Price, who is now President Trump’s secretary of health and human services.
Graham said he’s a fan of Handel’s and thinks she’ll likely win in June as long as all Republican voters coalesce behind her. Still, he said Republican leaders should take notice of Ossoff’s strong finish.
“I like her chances of winning this thing but this should be a wake-up call to the Republican Party in the south,” he said.
