- Title: In Georgia, costliest U.S. House race hits ugly note as election looms
- Date: 19th June 2017
- Summary: SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 19, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, JON OSSOFF, CAMPAIGNING AND MEETING SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, JON OSSOFF, SAYING: "Well this race is about what's important to the voters of the sixth district and what voters here are concerned with is their access to healthcare, especially women with those pre-existing conditions." VARIOUS OF SIGNS AND BANNER IN SUPPORT OF OSSOFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORMER MISSOURI SECRETARY OF STATE, JASON KANDER, A DEMOCRAT AND OSSOFF SUPPORTER, SAYING: "Look what people are talking about today is how they want to get out and meet as many voters as they possibly can because the folks here are just excited to get out and win this race." CAMPAIGN SIGNS OF OSSOFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) SANDY SPRINGS RESIDENT, ELLIOT SERVER, SAYING: "It's pretty cut and dry here. I think it's hard to flip people's positions here. Either you can't stand Trump and you wouldn't want anything to do with him or no matter what he does you're going to support him no matter what and I think those people haven't changed. I think there are a lot of people who were in the middle who can't stand Trump enough that they would not support him now but I think that's not the majority." MORE OF OSSOFF CAMPAIGN SIGNS VARIOUS OF OSSOFF CAMPAIGN BUS
- Embargoed: 4th July 2017 00:11
- Keywords: Karen Handel Twitter Jon Ossoff Congress Trump costly congressional candidate Georgia Jason Kander
- Location: SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- City: SANDY SPRINGS, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES / INTERNET
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0016LY4MED
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The costliest U.S. congressional race in history will be decided on Tuesday (June 20) in suburban Atlanta, where America's divisive political climate has been on display in an election seen by some analysts as a political test for President Donald Trump.
Days after a lone gunman opened fire on U.S. lawmakers at a baseball team practice in Virginia, a conservative group was running a TV ad in Atlanta that, with no evidence, appears to link the Democratic candidate, Jon Ossoff, to the shooting spree.
Ossoff called the ad "shameful" in a statement. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper reported that Ossoff's Republican opponent, Karen Handel, also condemned the ad.
It was an ugly, last-minute twist in the Ossoff-Handel contest for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by Tom Price, who resigned after becoming Trump's secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.
Total spending in the Georgia race for all candidates has topped $56 million, including tens of millions by outside groups, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog in Washington, D.C., easily topping the previous record of $29.5 million set in a 2012 Florida race.
Out of the total, $51.9 million has been spent on Handel and Ossoff, the Center for Responsive Politics said.
Late night on the eve of the election, Trump took to twitter to call out Ossoff as an ineligible voter as he supported Handel by rallying supporters to come out and vote for her. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None