Polls close tonight at 7 PM ET in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, where a special election is being held to replace former Republican Rep. Tom Price, who resigned to join Donald Trump’s cabinet. All the candidates compete on one ballot. If one candidate wins a majority of the vote, he or she wins the seat outright; otherwise, the two contenders with the most votes—regardless of party—will advance to a June 20 runoff.
There isn’t much doubt that Democrat Jon Ossoff will take first place, but Democrats hope that he’ll win outright. Several Republicans are competing for the second-place spot, with polls showing ex-Secretary of State Karen Handel and wealthy businessman Bob Gray locked in a close contest, while former state Sens. Judson Hill and Dan Moody are also in contention. Mitt Romney won this suburban Atlanta seat 61-37 in 2012, but it swung sharply against Trump, who carried it by just 48-47.
Results: State | AP (districtwide, by county)
Wednesday, Apr 19, 2017 · 2:12:12 AM +00:00
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Steve Singiser
Three hours into the counting, here is where we stand:
- The good news for Jon Ossoff is that he is still just above the 50 percent threshold he needs to win without a runoff, with more than half of the precincts reporting (111/210).
- The bad news for Ossoff is that his most favorable turf (DeKalb County) has reported completely at this point. Therefore, it is highly likely that those numbers will recede.
- The bottom line now is that a runoff between Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel (who has a solid edge in second place) seems like the likeliest outcome. But there is a lot of Fulton County left to count, which split pretty evenly between the two parties in November. So...as they say...stay tuned!