The latest GOP victor is Karen Handel, who won about 52 percent of the vote in Georgia's 6th Congressional District to quell the upstart phenomenon of Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old Democrat who raised more than $23 million and became a symbol of opposition to President Donald Trump.
The suburban Republican seats are much like several that Democrats are eyeing for potential 2018 upsets as Trump's approval ratings stagger and lawmakers battle over issues like health care.
Democrats need to flip 24 GOP seats to win a majority in the House next year.
Demographics, as well as Trump's election and the fact that he selected Price to serve as Health and Human Services secretary, have contributed to a "tremendous amount of energy on both sides in the district, but particularly among Democrats", said Chip Lake, a Republican strategist in Georgia and former chief of staff on Capitol Hill. 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.
Handel, meanwhile, hasn't fully embraced Trump, but she hasn't completely distanced herself from him either. In a typical fashion, the 70-year-old Republican continued his tweetstorm praising his 'Make America Great Again' campaign. Democrats outspent Republicans, in the hope of making the race a referendum against President Trump and his agenda.
With about 83% of the vote counted, Handel was ahead 52.6% to 47.4% against Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, prompting CNN and NBC News to call the race in Handel's favor.
On the other hand, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by one measly percentage point there last November.
Handel and Trump want to overhaul it.
Handel thanked many supporters and local and state officials, but it was when she thanked Trump that her crowd burst out in chants of "Trump!"
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"This is not the outcome many of us were hoping for", he told supporters.
"To the Jon Ossoff supporters, know that my commitments, they extend to everyone of you as well".
'Congratulations to Karen Handel on her big win in Georgia 6th.
On policy, she mostly echoes party leaders.
Handel sought to keep the president at arm's length, although her platform included priorities similar to Trump's.
The matchup has become a proxy for the national political atmosphere and a test of GOP strength early in Donald Trump's presidency, prompting record-breaking spending, a deluge of advertising and out-of-state volunteers, and more than a few tweets from the White House residence.
But with Democrats falling short in those races, and Republicans expected to hold a SC congressional seat also up for grabs Tuesday, all eyes have turned to Georgia.
About $42 million was spent or reserved for TV and radio ads alone leading up to the showdown between the two candidates, according to an election-eve analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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