DUNWOODY, Ga. (AP) – The Latest on Georgia’s 6th Congressional District election (all times local):
4 p.m.
A Georgia congressional election is headed to a high-stakes runoff that’s shaping up as a referendum on President Donald Trump ahead of crucial midterm elections next year.
Democrat Jon Ossoff, a little-known 30-year-old former congressional staffer, fell a few percentage points shy of an outright victory Tuesday amid an 18-candidate scramble in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. His strong showing in the conservative district, driven by eye-popping fundraising numbers from out-of-state donors, underscored Democrats’ eagerness to get a win against Trump as they strive to take back House control in 2018.
Republican Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, finished a distant second in the crowded field, qualifying for the June 20 runoff. She treated Trump gingerly throughout the campaign in a district he barely won in November, but the president called to congratulate her Wednesday morning and Handel said she hoped he’d campaign for her.