Runoff! Speakers Weigh In
The hour is late (early) and Fulton County is still Fulton Countying, but it appears most parties agree we have a June 20th runoff in CD6.
As such, we have the following statements:
From Georgia House Speaker David Ralston:
“I’m proud to support Karen Handel as our next member of Congress from Georgia. Unlike her opponent, Karen lives in the 6th District and she understands the needs and views of the citizens in that district. She will represent the 6th District in Washington — not Hollywood or Manhattan. I will ask the GOP members of the Georgia House to join with me and engage in an aggressive way to elect Karen Handel to Congress.”
From U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Speaker @PRyan's statement on the #GA06 special election results: pic.twitter.com/AbGEGpkpkM
— Zack Roday (@zackroday) April 19, 2017
Expect a lot more unity to be published from the GOP side tomorrow.
About Author
Charlie
Founder of GeorgiaPol.com; Now weekly columnist Very interested in Georgia and Georginas. Interest in politics is waning daily.
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Well that certainly works against him. Also, who shacks up with a girl for TWELVE YEARS and doesn’t get married. Lastly, we need more experienced women in Congress, not manufactured media products like J.O.
I’d have been okay with the more experienced woman in the White House, but YMMV.
It doesn’t matter where he grew up or Karen. Tom Price was from Michigan. I would say he did pretty well not even being from Georgia. But Tom Price always got to vote for himself because he lived in the district. Karen will get to do the same. Who did Ossoff vote for yesterday?
The only attack that republicans need is the fact that Ossoff is a democrat. That’s it. I just think it’s funny that the dems couldn’t find a single person that actually lived in the district to get behind. That certainly hasn’t hurt David Scott. He get’s to vote for John Lewis every election.
It’s a non-issue if the law allows someone to live outside the district and hold office. Even sillier is trying to demonize him if he lived the majority of live in the district and now conveniently lives temporarily outside the district. They should go for the ‘living in sin’ angle.
They don’t need an angle. He’s a democrat and that is all they need. The 6th district is one of the most highly educated districts in the nation. They know Trump isn’t on the ballot and they know that Ossoff is a democrat. Handel will win because 6th district voters aren’t stupid.
But I thought Trump only loved the poorly educated?
Certainly the highly-educated don’t love him.
And your point is? Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot. Jon Ossoff and Karen Handel are. One republican and one democrat. The voters are smart enough to know that.
Ronald Reagan wasn’t on the ballot in 1982, but his party still lost 26 seats in Congress.
Bill Clinton wasn’t on the ballot in 1994, but his party still lost 52 seats in Congress.
George W. Bush wasn’t on the ballot in 2006, but his party still lost 30 seats in Congress.
Barrack Obama wasn’t on the ballot in 2010, but his party still lost 63 seats in Congress.
Those were all (or went on to become) two-term presidents, and none of them were as unpopular as Donald Trump at this stage of their presidencies.
All true, but this isn’t a wave election year. This is a single special election where millions of dollars will be spent to prove that this is a 60/40 district. The wave elections you speak of are where 55/45 seats flipped. If the 6th was going to flip it would have happened last night.
The highly-educated part is correct. The 6th is in the top 10 congressional districts in terms of households that hold at least a bachelor’s degree.
Only caveat, the other 9 districts in the top 10 all have Democratic representatives.
Sure, but the 6th won’t be joining them with a democrat representative.
Well, I think round 1 went about as well as Republicans could have hoped in 115 candidate field. They held the Democrat to under 50% and had a clear front runner to rally behind. It will be interesting to see if Ossoff’s game fades any before June. It seemed like they put a lot of effort into trying to take this one without a runoff.
This really was a classic Dem campaign, though. Pull some dude out of nowhere, set him up as the second coming and get him elected before everyone figures out it’s all an illusion.
I don’t know Handel at all, but people I hold in high regard hold her in high regard, and that means something tone.
I also don’t know Ossoff at all, but with regards to the fundraising, I feel like in this climate, a charismatic turnip could have raised at least $4M nationally. I don’t think he’s a bad person, and he can clearly campaign. The runoff will be interesting (I say from CD13, my mailbox and my landline safe and sound for the next six weeks).
I really think Handel is best off not going full MAGA in the runoff. It didn’t work for Gray (granted, the primary is an entirely different animal) but there’s a liability with the MAGA tactic in that no one has any idea how the next six weeks will be for Trump, so she’d be hitching herself to a runaway wagon with an unknown trajectory. I don’t live in the 6th – but if I were Handel I’d campaign on my own merits and experience and not waste much breath or energy on DJT’s support.
LOL. Trump is already claiming HIS victory, for supporting Handel. It’ll be fun watching her try to denounce the toxic Trump support.
I mean, what strikes me is how the spin has evolved. A few months ago, it was “That’s cute, it’s still going to be an R vs. R runoff.” A few weeks ago, it was “It’s still a 60/40 GOP district, he’s toast in a runoff.” Now it’s “Well, at least he didn’t win outright.” I wonder what it will be by the time we get to June.
It will be back to “it’s a 60/40 district and I told you that months ago.”
I don’t care either for Handel’s anti-abortion stand or her look-at-the-poor-martyr take on her Komen tenure but I don’t have anything particularly against her either. I’d trade Jody Hice for her right now, straight up. But she’s got this far by not saying or doing much and I don’t expect that to change. She’ll try not to mention Trump or Ryan and will avoid any specific proposals. She’ll do her best to ignore Ossoff and allow others to try to diminish him, starting with where he lives and what he’s done.
When all is said and done how many millions will be spent to obtain 1 vote out of 435 in Congress? Yes I realize it is a symbolic affirmation/condemnation of the current administration but jeez Louise the vitriol features mostly insipid trivia over any real issues, even more than the norm in recent years.
It would be refreshing if the campaigns would focus on reasons to vote for their own candidate but PAC regs being what they are I know that isn’t going to happen. I will be using the DVR to watch local news for the next couple of months to avoid the nonsensical attacks.
Notice how no big name dems such as Hilly, Burnie or Pelosi campaigned for Ossoff. This frat kid tries to distance himself from the national democrats now but if he is elected his voting will conform with the democrat party.
So national donk leaders are absent meaning Ossoff will vote with the ‘democrat’ party, whereas if they had flooded the district it would have meant what exactly? Your logic needs another cup of coffee.
It’s simple. The three I named are not particularly popular in the sixth so keeping them out of the district and out of any commercials helps Ossoff.
Yet attack ads, and social media trolls, tried to label Ossof as Pelosi’s pet.
He should let ’em run with it and then close on a house in the district a couple weeks from election day.
In this day and age, whether or not “you’re from here” isn’t as important as whether or not “you live there now”. I’m fairly certain Karen has lived in the 6th district since at least Ossoff was in his teens, if not younger, meanwhile, Ossoff has been living with his girlfriend for 12 years. Seeing that he’s 30, that means he’s been living with her since he was 18. That seems a little odd to me.
He either misspoke or is intentionally misleading voters.
In other news, if you want to meet someone who has triumphed over adversity, knows how to push through difficult odds and get things done, someone who has a strong sense of self and knows herself, you need to meet Karen Handel. Regardless of the positions, Karen is fundamentally a different type of political candidate. She believes in running and getting things done. Most people who run for office, just want to be there. Karen Handel wants to do things to make our country, our economy, and our system of government function for the betterment of all those involved.
I can actually hear a trumpet flourish.
“…Karen Handel wants to do things to make our country, our economy, and our system of government function for the betterment of all those involved.”
Until the next election opportunity comes along.
But hey, she always does it for the ‘good of the party’.
(cue music…wave flags)