GOP prevails in pricey Georgia special election

Republican Karen Handel prevailed Tuesday, retaining Georgia’s 6th Congressional District for the GOP and fending off well-funded Democrat Jon Ossoff in the priciest House election in U.S. history. The special election to replace Tom Price, who vacated the seat to join the Trump administration as Health and Human Services secretary, became a national spectacle. Republicans have controlled the district since 1978, but Democrats went all-in to oust them, in part as a referendum on President Donald Trump. Outside donors boosted 30-year-old Ossoff into a viable challenger for the heavily Republican district, but Handel edged him out 53 percent to 47 percent—a difference of about 12,500 votes. Price won reelection in November by more than 23 points. Handel, Ossoff, and the groups supporting them spared no expense, spending more than $50 million on the campaign, with most of that money coming from outside Georgia. The race shattered the previous record for the most expensive House campaign by more than $20 million. “Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said.

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