Early voting began Tuesday in one of the country’s hottest races — the race to replace former Rep. Tom Price (who left to head HHS) in Georgia’s sixth Congressional district.
The young and inexperienced Democrat Jon Ossoff faces a tough challenger in Republican Karen Handel. Democrats and political media alike have pitched the race as a referendum on President Trump and his agenda.
Because the race has garnered so much national attention, super PACs from both sides of the aisle are dropping bank on ads, hoping to sway voters to their cause. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican PAC, created an ad, linking Kathy Griffin to Ossoff.
Griffin is now famous for her decision to pose in an ISIS-like image with a bloody, severed Trump head.
The ad connects Griffin and Ossoff as part of a “liberal extremist” wing of politics. Included beneath, the ad has not yet run on TV.
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Without spending a dime to air the Griffin ad, it’s drummed up a fair amount of media.
A few weeks ago, a SurveyUSA poll had Ossoff up seven points. No one bought it. All signs pointed to a closer race.
A poll released this week shows just that. Ossoff still has a small lead, but one within the poll’s margin of error. Neither is Ossoff’s lead universal. He’s polling well among younger voters, but Handel has the edge on older voters.
From WSB Radio:
Ossoff leads with younger voters, age 18-39, while Handel has the edge with voters older than 65.Male voters tend to go more for Handel, and female voters tend to support Ossoff.Experts say the race that’s getting national attention is going to come down to who can actually get their supporters to the polls.Channel 2 Political Analyst Bill Crane believes the race has become a kind of referendum on the Trump presidency.”Probably there’s been some additional dissatisfaction from people who did vote for the president in November who may have seen enough,” Crane said.The Ossoff campaign sent the following statement about the poll: “This race is neck and neck and our campaign is going to continue to work as hard as we ever have to ensure we don’t send another career politician to Washington.”The Handel campaign sent the follow statement about the poll: “With the race tied, it’s important that every Republican take their duty to get out and vote seriously. Otherwise, California money could end up buying another Georgia Congressional seat for the Democrats.”
Ossoff and Handel will square off in their first debate Tuesday, followed by a second debate Thursday. Early voting runs through June 16 and the election will be held June 20.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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