Republican Karen Handel has won Georgia’s record-breaking special congressional election, according to an NBC News projection.
Seen as an early proxy for whether Democrats can flip certain Republican-leaning districts in the President Donald Trump era, Tuesday’s election drew national attention and record cash from around the country. Democrats have aimed to leverage Trump’s dismal approval rating and opposition to the Republican health-care bill into winning Republican seats and potentially taking control of the House in 2018.
The race for Georgia’s 6th District for the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price pit Handel, 55, the former Georgia secretary of state, against Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year old former congressional aide. Fueled by a rush of donors from around the U.S., Ossoff pushed for an upset in the suburban Atlanta district that Price repeatedly won easily, but ultimately came up short.
The two campaigns and outside groups supporting and opposing the candidates shelled out at least $36 million as of May 31, including more than $22 million from Ossoff’s campaign. The election easily set a record for spending in a House race, according to NBC News.
Republicans may see holding the seat as one sign that Trump’s agenda and lack of popularity may not be as damaging for the party as Democrats hope, especially because Handel became associated with Trump’s policies. Separately on Tuesday, Republican Ralph Norman avoided an upset by winning a special election in South Carolina’s 5th District, a seat vacated by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney.
In the four races for red House districts vacated by Trump nominees, the Republican candidate won but the Democrat performed better than the party’s candidate did in 2016. Still, it is not clear yet what the effect will be on the 2018 elections, which take place more than a year from now.
Trump won the highly-educated Georgia 6th District by only 1.5 points last year. Still, Price got more than 60 percent of the vote there in 2016 and won comfortably there for most of the time after he first won the seat in 2004.
In an April primary, Ossoff won more than 48 percent of the vote, while Handel got about 20 percent, due to a crowded Republican field.
Underscoring the national attention on the race, Trump repeatedly chimed in on it multiple times leading up to the results. In a Tuesday tweet that started with “KAREN HANDEL FOR CONGRESS,” Trump said she would “fight for lower taxes, great healthcare” and “strong security.”
As media outlets started to project Handel’s win Tuesday, he also tweeted that “things are looking great” for her.
— CNBC’s John Harwood contributed to this report
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.