Anti-Trump sentiment is real and it could soon hand Republicans an embarrassing defeat. Down South in the Atlanta suburbs, Democrat Jon Ossoff appears poised to capture the seat recently vacated by President Trump’s Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
Two weeks ahead of a special election, Ossoff leads the electoral pack by nearly 30 points in Georgia’s sixth congressional district. A victory would make him unique. Not only would the political rookie become the first Democrat to win the seat since a peanut farmer was president. Ossoff would also be the first chink in Speaker Ryan’s House majority.
The polling, conducted by 11Alive News, shows that 30-year-old Ossoff has Trump to thanks. Unsurprisingly among Democrats, he’s gathered 86 percent of that vote. But remarkably, he’s also managed to claw 13 percent of Republican voters to his side. And if Ossoff can persuade a few independent voters, the former hill staffer will likely win the April 18 election.
Republicans are desperate to break that fever pitch. If they can keep the fresh-faced Ossoff from receiving 50 percent of the vote, they can force a June 20 runoff. More time means more scrutiny for the candidate’s fluffy resume and questionable ties.
Led by Speaker Ryan’s Congressional Leadership Fund, Republicans have tried linking Ossoff to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, slamming him for his work with the Al Jazeera network, and mocking him for his collegiate indiscretion. So far, nothing has worked and Trump’s almost certainly to blame.
Georgia’s 6th district used to be a deep south GOP juggernaut. Its voters sent Newt Gingrich to Congress in 1979 before going overwhelmingly for Republican presidential candidates. But Trump couldn’t capitalize on that home field advantage. He barely eked out a 1.5 percentage point win in comparison to Mitt Romney’s 23-point landslide victory in 2012.
When Trump tapped Rep. Tom Price for HHS secretary, Democrats pounced. They’ve poured millions of dollars into the special election, raising a grass roots army and flooding the airwaves. Barring some sort of disaster, Ossoff likely has this one in the bag.
And if Republicans aren’t careful this Southern anomaly could become a much bigger national problem.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
