Jon Ossoff Loses Hotly Contested Georgia Congressional Race
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Democrat Jon Ossoff lost a hotly contested Georgia congressional race on Tuesday, CNN reported, fending off a Democratic challenge in a race that was widely seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump.
With more than 65 percent of the votes counted, CNN predicted that Republican Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, would defeat Ossoff, a Jewish political newcomer.
Ossoff, 30, was seeking to wrest control of a suburban Atlanta district that has elected Republicans to Congress since the 1970s.
Total spending in the race topped $56 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group, nearly double the previous record.
The outcome will not alter the balance of power in Washington, where Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
But an Ossoff victory would have helped Democrats raise money and recruit candidates as they try to win back control of the House of Representatives in 2018.
The party has fallen short this year in other elections in Kansas and Montana, and it narrowly lost another race on Tuesday in South Carolina.
Democrats thought they saw a chance for victory after Trump carried this affluent, educated district by only 1 percentage point in last year’s presidential election.
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