2017 Georgia's 6th congressional district special election


A special election to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 6th congressional district was held on April 18, 2017, with a runoff held two months later on June 20. Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the runoff vote, 51.8% to 48.2%. Handel succeeded Tom Price, who resigned from the seat following his confirmation as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration. The runoff election was necessary when no individual candidate earned the majority of votes in the election on April 18. Ossoff received 48.1% of the vote in the first round, followed by Handel with 19.8%.
Georgia's state law requires the Governor of Georgia to call for a special election to be held at least 30 days after a vacancy. Following Price's resignation, Governor Nathan Deal called for the special election to be held on April 18, with a filing window for prospective candidates from February 13 to 15, 2017. All candidates ran on one ballot, with a runoff election scheduled for the first- and second-place finishers, if no candidate received 50% of the vote. Neither Ossoff nor Handel received a majority, and despite the Democratic Ossoff's finishing nearly 30 points ahead in the first round, Republican Handel nonetheless prevailed in the runoff election.
The election attracted exceptional national interest, with both major parties perceiving it as an opportunity to shape the political narrative prior to the 2018 midterm elections. The district has a history of favoring GOP House candidates by large margins, but Trump won it by just 1% in 2016, making Democrats hopeful to steal a normally strong GOP district. A total of $50 million was spent as of the close of early-voting period on June 17, making it the most expensive House election in history. Of that, more than $40 million was spent on television and radio advertising alone, smashing past House election records. A very high number of voters—140,000—cast ballots during the runoff-election early-voting period.

Candidates

Republican Party

Declared

Declared

Declined

Declared

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Runoff

On April 18, 2017, no candidate received 50% of the vote in the blanket primary. Ossoff led with about 48.1% of the vote, Republican candidate Karen Handel received 19.8%, and the remainder of votes were scattered for 16 other candidates. Because no candidate secured an absolute majority, the top two-vote-getters, Ossoff and Handel, competed in a runoff election on June 20, 2017. Ossoff won all but 1% of the Democratic vote, while the Republican vote was more heavily split. Republicans collectively won 51.2% of the overall vote.
Ossoff broke national fundraising records for a U.S. House candidate. In total, Ossoff's campaign raised more than $23 million, two-thirds of which was contributed by small-dollar donors nationwide. Ossoff's opponent, Karen Handel, and national Republican groups attacked Ossoff for raising significant small-dollar contributions from outside of Georgia, although Handel's campaign received the bulk of its support from super PACs and other outside groups, including those funded anonymously by so-called "dark money". Combined spending by the campaigns and outside groups on their behalf added up to over $55 million, which was the most expensive House Congressional election in U.S. history. During the campaign, Republican strategy focused on connecting Ossoff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, a polarizing and unpopular figure; Ossoff declined to say whether he would, if elected, support Pelosi for Speaker of the House.

Endorsements

Debates

, June 8, 2017.

Polling

Averages

Polls


Hypothetical polling		------

;with Bob Gray

Results

On June 20, 2017, Ossoff was defeated by Handel, 51.87% to 48.13%. Following reports of the election results, The New York Times characterized the race as "demoralizing for Democrats". This was as close as a Democrat had come to winning this district since it assumed its current configuration as a northern suburban district in 1992; previously, Democratic challengers had only won more than 40 percent of the vote twice. Handel later lost re-election to a full term on November 6, 2018, to Democratic challenger Lucy McBath, making her the first Democrat to represent the district in its present form.

County results

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