Jon Ossoff

By Josh Nathan-Kazis April 19, 2017

Democratic congressional hopeful Jon Ossoff missed the threshold for outright victory in a special election in Georgia’s sixth district on Tuesday. Now experts he faces a tough runoff in the staunchly Republican state.

In June, he face Karen Handel, a Republican who once served as Georgia secretary of state and has run unsuccessfully for Senate and Governor in Georgia. All signs point to a nail-biter.

At the polling website 538, Harry Enten writes that Handel is the favorite — “by less than a point.”

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The New York Times, in its story on the race, notes that while Handel has a recent history of serial defeats in her statewide races, she should expect to receive “nearly unlimited resources from Washington Republicans” in advance of the June contest.

A Fox 5 Atlanta poll published April 14 found that Ossoff led Handel in a notional runoff, 42% to 41%.

Meanwhile, the president weighed in with his own message on the race on Wednesday morning.

Despite major outside money, FAKE media support and eleven Republican candidates, BIG “R” win with runoff in Georgia. Glad to be of help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 19, 2017

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]

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