A New York Times story said Wednedsay the two special elections held in Kansas and Georgia over the last two weeks were a “boon” to Democrats, even though the Kansas Democrat lost, and the Georgia Democrat, Jon Ossoff, will now have to run off against a single Republican in a race many think the GOP will win.
Ossoff was the top performer and won 48.1 percent of the vote, just short of the 50 percent plus one vote he needed to win the seat outright. Still, the Times said Ossoff had a “strong showing,” and said his effort, along with a “better-than-expected” performance by Democrats in a Kansas congressional race last week, will serve as an “immediate boon” to the party’s hopes in the future.
The story said the result would end up “lifting their fund-raising and bolstering candidate recruitment efforts, while sobering Republicans who are assessing whether to run in Mr. Trump’s first midterm election.”
Ossoff will be in a runoff election against Republican nominee Karen Handel in June. The race was largely framed by the national media as a possible indictment on President Trump’s first months in office, given the district is mostly Republican (though Trump only won it by 1 point).
The GOP vote was also divided by more than 10 candidates, and Handel won less than 20 percent of votes.
An op-ed published Wednesday in USA Today also framed the results of the Georgia election as a win for his party.
“The real winner in Georgia’s special House election is the Democratic strategy of nationalizing midterm elections in Republican districts to capitalize on President Trump’s historic unpopularity,” said the op-ed, written by Jason Sattler.
