According to polls, Democrat Jon Ossoff, left, and Republican Karen Handel are the front-runners in a special election to replace Tom Price in Georgia’s 6th congressional district. (Twitter)
With just weeks to go, the race to replace Tom Price in Georgia’s 6th congressional district is heating up.
A new poll released March 24 showed Democrat Jon Ossoff leading the 18-candidate field and former Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel in second — top among all Republicans in the race.
Georgia Republican state Sen. Judson Hill, who has the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (Florida) polled at 9.5 percent.
The special election is set to take place April 18 to find a replacement for Price, who was confirmed as the secretary of the Health and Human Services department. The election has received national attention, as it’s largely considered as one of the first referendums on President Donald Trump‘s administration and policies.
Notably, the district hasn’t elected a Democrat to the seat since 1965 (Jon J. Flynt Jr.), so the early polling numbers come are a bit alarming to the GOP.
The poll, performed by research firm Opinion Savvy on behalf of Fox 5 Atlanta and released March 24, shows Ossoff receiving 39.8 percent support while Handel was in second at 19.9 percent. Republican councilman Bob Gray was third with 10.4 percent.
Here are the full results of the poll:
Abroms — 1.6 percent
Bhuiyan — 0.0 percent
Edwards — 0.6 percent
Grawert — 0.0 percent
Gray — 10.4 percent
Handel — 19.9 percent
Hernandez — 0.0 percent
Hill — 9.5 percent
Keatley — 0.0 percent
Kremer — 0.1 percent
LeVell — 0.4 percent
Llop — 0.3 percent
Moody — 8.0 percent
Ossoff — 39.8 percent
Pollard — 0.4 percent
Quigg — 0.2 percent
Slotin — 1.3 percent
Wilson — 1.8 percent
Undecided — 5.8 percent
The poll is also the first to offer initial perspective on a likely runoff election, which would take place June 20. It found a large percentage of undecided voters and an extremely tight race between Ossoff and Handel, if those would be the two campaigning against each other.
Here’s a look at some of the early runoff election projections:
Ossoff vs. Handel In Runoff Election
Ossoff — 42.4 percent
Handel — 41 percent
Undecided — 16.6 percent
If the race were to feature Ossoff against Gray, it’s also a tight race.
Ossoff vs. Gray In Runoff Election
Ossoff — 44.3 percent
Gray — 42.3 percent
Undecided — 13.4 percent
If Ossoff were to face Hill in a runoff, the poll said that the Republican is ahead by a slim margin.
Ossoff vs. Hill In Runoff Election
Hill — 44.6 percent
Ossoff — 44.2 percent
Undecided — 11.2 percent
