Jon Ossoff Leading By 7% In Georgia Special Election: Poll
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink May 23, 2017
Democrat Jon Ossoff is seven points ahead of Republican Karen Handel a month before their runoff election to fill a traditionally-Republican House seat in Georgia, a new poll revealed Wednesday.
The poll, conducted by SurveyUSA for Atlanta TV station WXIA, shows a 51-44% advantage for Ossoff, a Jewish documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide who got 48% in the race’s first round in April.
While it comes as no surprise that liberal voters favored Ossoff and conservative voters supported Handel, a former Georgia Secretary of State, self-defined “moderates” swung strongly in one direction: 69% would vote for Ossoff and only 22% for Handel.
The special election, in a district encompassing Atlanta’s northern suburbs, was initiated after local congressman Tom Price was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services. It is estimated to end up being the most expensive congressional race in history. It is seen as a bellwether for whether Democrats can capitalize on dissatisfaction with President Trump to capture Republican districts.
The poll also showed that Trump’s disapproval rating in the district is 51%. It had a margin of error of 4.3%.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
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