Handel defeats Ossoff to win Georgia 6th District

"And it would show Georgia beginning to emerge as a purple state if Ossoff wins".

Handel emphasized that Republican pedigree often in her campaign and again in her victory speech.

The successful execution of that playbook could calm congressional Republicans' ruffled nerves as the GOP advances major legislation to overhaul the nation's health care system and eyes a massive reform of its tax structure.

At a Hyatt Regency in northern Atlanta, more than 100 attendees cheered and celebrated Handel's victory.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:13 p.m.

"It's that fighting spirit, that perseverance and tenacity that I will take to Washington", she said Tuesday night.

Despite Handel's half-hearted embrace of Trump, he the President published tweets early Tuesday morning urging his followers to vote for Handel. "And let's not forget, our equally great vice president, Mike Pence".

"Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated", Ryan said in a statement.

"Right up until that tragic day on the ballfield, Steve would drop me a text message every single week to make sure I was doing OK and hanging tough", Handel said.

This special election (the most expensive House race in USA history) drew plenty of national focus because there was so much more at stake than a mere Congressional seat. Democrats expect to have an advantage in the 140,000 early votes cast, so that's theoretically good for them - but things change if the rain had a disproportionate effect on the district's most Democratic region.

Democrats hoped a victory on Tuesday would fuel momentum for the 2018 midterm elections.

While Democrats attempted to position the electoral race in Georgia as a referendum on US President Donald Trump, Republicans doubled-down on their ties to the White House.

The president took to Twitter early Tuesday to slam Ossoff, saying the democrat "wants to raise your taxes to the highest level and is weak on crime and security".

With the inflated price tag and the 15-month lag time between the special election and the November 2018 midterms, the contest might not hold much predictive value.

But it did carry the potential to provide the winning party a huge psychic boost. The former state lawmaker also ran a campaign aligning himself with Trump.

(AP Photo/David Goldman). Karen Handel, Republican candidate for Georgia's 6th congressional district talks to reporters during a campaign stop at Old Hickory House in Tucker, Ga., Monday, June 19, 2017. 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.

Republicans were expected to be the majority of early ballots, but Ossoff supporters cast almost 5,000 more early votes than Handel supports, according to The New York Times.

Stay with Mic for live updates, including dispatches from staff writer Will Drabold, who is on the ground in Georgia at Ossoff's Election Night watch party. Georgia's outcome follows similar results in Montana, Kansas and SC, where Republicans won special House races by much narrower margins than they managed as recently as November.