As the most expensive Congressional race in U.S. history rolls on toward its June 20th election day, recent polls show Democrat Jon Ossoff taking hold of a slight lead over Republican Karen Handel.
The latest poll, from Survey USA for NBC, shows Ossoff with 51% of the vote to Handel’s 44%. That puts him outside of the margin of error, which is 4.3%.
The poll shows Ossoff leading by six points among women in the district, and more surprisingly by 9 points among men. That shift would be uncharacteristic of a district where males have voted overwhelmingly in favor of Republicans in recent cycles. It also has Ossoff taking a whopping 58% of the independent vote, a number that would be devastating to Republicans should it hold true on election day.
Another question posed by the survey was whether the fact that Jon Ossoff currently lives outside the district was an issue for voters. 27% of respondents and 57% of Republicans said it was a major issue, while 51% of voters surveyed said it was not an issue at all. That point, along with the fact that Ossoff has raised more money in California than in Georgia, has been a major point of attack from Handel and Conservative groups throughout the race.
The other question on the poll asked whether Karen Handel’s lack of a college degree was an issue for CD-6 voters. Only 19% of those surveyed said it was a major issue, while 58% said it was not an issue at all.
Handel and Ossoff will come together for at least one debate before June 20th, a primetime match-up on June 6th on WSB. It will likely be the only official meeting between the two candidates, who sparred several times along with the other top 16 congressional aspirants in the special election. Expect the eyes of the nation to turn toward Georgia for that meeting, which could be the climax of a race that is seen in political circles as a referendum on President Trump’s troubled start to his presidency, as well as a portend of a potential ‘blue wave’ of Democratic support in what promises to be a contentious 2018 midterm election cycle nationwide.
