Republicans ponder possible defeat in red Georgia
MAY 08, 2017 6:00 AM
BY KATIE GLUECK
kglueck@mcclatchydc.com
WASHINGTON
Republican anxiety is mounting about a runoff election in a typically red Georgia House district—a race that will offer an early test of Democratic motivation just weeks after Donald Trump’s health care repeal bill passed the House.
Republicans in Washington and Georgia acknowledge that a GOP loss in the special election runoff between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff is a distinct possibility, a development that would harden the narrative that Republicans face a daunting task in maintaining control of Congress in 2018. It would also underscore the challenges facing Republicans running in districts Donald Trump either lost or, as is the case in Georgia, barely won.
“Republicans are nervous about where the political environment is right now,” said Chip Lake, a GOP strategist in Georgia, noting the responsibilities and pressures that come with being the governing party tackling thorny policy issues like health care. “The political environment right now, from an electoral perspective, certainly looks to favor the Democrats, because they appear united in opposing everything this president does.”
“If we were to lose this race,” he continued, “it’s going to be very hard to spin it that it was not a national election.”
Republicans were already nervous after Ossoff demonstrated surprising strength, coming in first in the initial contest last month to replace now-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in a suburban Atlanta-area district—just short of the 50 percent threshold that would have handed him outright victory. But Republicans had hopes that, with one Republican candidate in the mix instead of nearly a dozen, the GOP would have a clearer path once the race moved to a runoff.
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