6th District Race: New Poll Shows Ossoff, Handel Virtually Tied

EAST COBB, GA — A new poll in Georgia's 6th Congressional District race shows Democrat Jon Ossoff with a slight lead — 49.1 percent to 47.6 percent — over Republican Karen Handel three weeks before the election. The poll was conducted by Landmark Communications and commissioned by Atlanta TV station WSB-TV.

The poll results, taken from 500 voters via phone and online, has a margin of error of 4.4 percent with 3 percent undecided, which means the race is basically going to come down to the wire. The poll reveals that younger voters are flocking to Ossoff, while older ones prefer Handel. (To get notified of more local news like this, click here to sign up for the East Cobb Patch. Or find your Atlanta-area town here. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

Interest in the election is astoundingly high, with Ossoff, a first-time candidate, marshaling support from Democratic luminaries and celebrities across the nation. Meanwhile, Handel has been drawing on the full force of Republican might to keep the seat in the GOP's hands. President Donald Trump and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan have visited Atlanta to stump for Handel, a former secretary of state. Vice President Mike Pence is said to be planning to come to Georgia on June 9.

Read more: Trump raises $750,000 for Handel in Atlanta

This week, Trump again waded into controversy with his decision to pull the United States from the Paris Agreement, an accord between nearly 200 nations to curb global warming. Handel has thrown her lot in with Trump, saying that, "“We need a fair agreement that doesn’t start with the assumption that American jobs should be sacrificed to the developing world in order to address the impacts of climate change," according to WXIA-TV.

Ossoff tweeted, "If we walk away from our #ParisAgreement commitments to reduce carbon emissions & help fight climate change, history will condemn us for it."

The latest poll comes as Republicans try to attach comedian Kathy Griffin's controversial video of a beheaded Trump to Ossoff. The group Georgia Gun Owners posted an ad with a split screen showing Ossoff and Griffin.

"Kathy Griffin is one of liberal Jon Ossoff's biggest supporters. She's as anti-gun as they come ... just like Jon Ossoff -- Bought and Paid for By Hollywood Liberals," the ad says.

The Ossoff campaign has condemned the ad, calling it "despicable."

“Jon Ossoff believes what Kathy Griffin did was despicable and for Karen Handel’s super PAC to say otherwise is a disgrace,” Ossoff spokeswoman Sacha Haworth said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Karen Handel should immediately demand this ad be pulled before any more children have to see these disturbing images on TV.”

Ossoff came just short of winning the 6th District House seat in the April 19 special election against 17 other candidates. His 48 percent total was 2 percent shy of the 50 percent he needed to turn the longtime GOP-leaning district into a Democratic one and win the race outright.

The 6th District House of Representatives seat was held by U.S. Rep. Tom Price until he vacated it to join the Trump administration as U.S. health secretary.

Read more: 6th District House Race: New Poll Shows Dead Heat
Read more: Trump Raises $750,000 For Karen Handel In Atlanta Visit
Read more: Dems, GOP Claim Win As Ossoff, Handel Face Runoff
Read more: Georgia 6th District Election Results: Ossoff Drops Under 50 Percent

Image via Patch file photo