Jon Ossoff’s failure to win the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District outright on Tuesday is notable given the remarkable conditions impacting his race.
The amount of money Ossoff has at his disposal was record-shattering.
According to the Washington Post, Ossoff raised “17 times as much as the average candidate in a competitive district.” In the first quarter of 2017, Ossoff’s campaign hauled in $8.3 million dollars. For perspective, the highest-earning congressional campaign raised $1.3 million in the third quarter of 2016. The average was $500,000.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis reported, “Among Georgians, Ossoff’s take would appear to be a record. Former Democratic Congressman John Barrow raised more than $3.5 million when he lost his re-election bid in 2014. Republican Bob Barr raised $3.4 million in 2000 to defend his seat in Congress, although his Democratic opponent, Roger Kahn, raised $4 million.”
Compounded with additional factors, these staggering fundraising numbers make Ossoff’s share of the vote seem less impressive.
Ossoff, a Democrat, was running in a district President Trump barely managed to win last November. Furthermore, only three months into his term, the president’s approval ratings are low, hovering around 40 percent. In addition to the money, Ossoff also received major national publicity, volunteer resources, and celebrity endorsements, in addition to the added benefit of running all alone — his cause was not lost among dozens of other competitive races, as tends to happen in general elections.
Even if Ossoff had won outright, or manages to do so in the runoff, this race probably isn’t an effective barometer, given the unique circumstances surrounding his candidacy. That is not to say it’s insignificant, but any election where one candidate raises 17 times more money than the average candidate will not forecast the future, unless Democrats are expecting to repeat those conditions in every competitive race next cycle.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
