The political world waits on Georgia race, Ossoff

Trump, who took to social media in the campaign's closing days to heckle Ossoff and encourage Republicans, crowed on his personal Twitter account: "Despite major outside money, FAKE media support and eleven Republican candidates, Big "R" win with runoff in Georgia. Republicans, get out and vote!" the president added. Handel is well-known in the district because she is a former Fulton County commissioner.

Their argument: Tuesday's results are more evidence of an expanded House battlefield in 2018, and it suggests what once looked like a disastrous Senate map - with 10 Democratic senators up for re-election in states Trump won - now isn't necessarily so bad.

Some observers warned against extrapolating this particular election as a predictor for national midterm contests in 2018, though the results in Georgia's 6th district were seen as a general indication of voter sentiment toward Trump and Republicans in Congress. Trump won the district by 1.5 points last November.

Mr Ossoff, a film-maker who lives just outside the electoral district in Georgia, declared as a candidate in January, with the Democratic party quickly coalescing around his candidacy.

While Handel has said she thinks Trump is doing a good job, she didn't exactly wear her support for him on her sleeve.

The president blasted Ossoff in a series of tweets early on election day. Ossoff, who has worked as a congressional aide before turning to journalism, recently told The Guardian that he was "laser-focused on local economic issues".

While Ossoff's massive haul was impressive, Republicans were quick to point out that 95 percent of that came from outside the state, buoyed by progressive blogs like Daily Kos and fundraising platforms like ActBlue.

Overall, turnout was high for a Special Election and, with a few more precincts left to count early Wednesday, it appeared Ossoff would end up with about the same percent Hillary Clinton got in the district in November.

Ossoff is running in a special election to replace Tom Price, who vacated his seat to become Trump's health secretary.

An Ossoff win would not tip the balance of power in the Republican-controlled House but could weaken Trump's already shaky hold on his party there by encouraging those in competitive districts to distance themselves from him.

That's all a nod to the Republicans and independents he needed to win - whether Tuesday or in a runoff. The suburban district has all the characteristics - diversity, including Latino voters, higher-than-average education levels and a younger population - of those it hopes to flip in areas like Orange County, California, and the Texas suburbs.

Cedrick Gulley, a 25-year-old Georgia State University student from the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs, compared Ossoff to former President Barack Obama and Sen.

The 6th district in Georgia has been held by the likes of Newt Gingrich and has been a Republican stronghold for over 40 years.

Handel finished second as the top Republican vote-getter. Progressive activists led by the liberal blog Daily Kos pumped $8.3 million into Ossoff's campaign largely because it represented their best odds out of four special elections for previously Republican-held House seats of flipping one and sending a message.

Given the partisan leanings of the district, Republican Handel would have to be favored heading into the runoff. A political action committee backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan has spent more than $2 million attacking Ossoff.

Ossoff is a lanky 30-year-old first-time candidate who has faced heavy criticism for not living in the district.