“Let me tell you this,” said Jon Ossoff to a rally of his supporters late Tuesday night. “There is no doubt that this is already a victory for the ages. That no matter what the outcome is tonight, whether we take it all, or whether we fight on, we have defied the odds, we have shattered expectations.”
Ossoff is the Democrats’ candidate for The Peach State’s 6th district; a vacant seat vied over in a special election following its previous holder’s joining of the Trump administration to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ossoff framed the special election in Georgia’s 6th District as having global importance: “We are changing the world, and your voices are gonna ring out across this state and across this country. We will be ready to fight on and win in June, if it is necessary.”
Ossoff sought to win the election outright with a majority of votes, falling shy of the threshold with 48.1% (92,390 votes) of the votes. In two months, he will face Republican opponent Karen Handel (Georgia’s former secretary of state) in a runoff election.
If past is prologue, Ossoff will have difficulty against his Republican opponent; the district has been held by the GOP since 1979.
Various news media outlets ranging from CNN to The New York Times are framing the election as a referendum on President Donald Trump. Ossoff’s political fortunes, even if he fails to secure the seat with a well-funded campaign, are being framed by such news media outlets as a victory for the Democrats and broader left.
With a campaign funded to the tune of $8.3 million, Ossof’s political campaign funding eclipses that of his Republican opponent; Handel raised under $500 thousand. While 95% of Ossoff’s donors are from outside of Georgia, Handel claims that 90% of her donors are in-state.
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