District 6 Race: Ossoff Stretches Lead; Handel, Gray Tied

EAST COBB, GA -- A new poll shows that Democrat Jon Ossoff has pulled ahead in the race to represent Georgia's 6th congressional district.

The poll, conducted by zpolitics/Clout Research, found that Ossoff has increased his lead to 41 percent while former Republican Secretary of State Karen Handel and former Johns Creek City Councilman Bob Gray were locked in a dead heat at 16 percent.

The March 15-16 survey offers the strongest evidence yet that the Democrats have a chance to "flip the Sixth," winning back the Republican-leaning district.

Read more: Karen Handel releases her first digital ad

In the conservative poll, state Sen. Judson Hill comes in at 9 percent while former Republican state senator Dan Moody registers at 5 percent.

See the zpolitics/Clout Research poll here.

While recent history was against the Democrats -- the district had voted with the GOP for the last two decades -- the party of Hillary Clinton saw hope when she barely lost in area to Donald Trump in the November election.

Ossoff, a first-time candidate joined by four other Democrats all of varying degrees of experience, is the only one able to boast solid gains in early polls and the backing of longtime Democratic stalwarts Nancy Pelosi and John Lewis.

Buoyed by a recent groundswell of support from luminaries far and wide -- actor George Takei recently tweeted a pro-Ossoff poster that got tens of thousands of retweets -- the 30-year-old filmmaker believes he can score an upset victory in the district, which includes affluent parts of Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties.

“The only way to approach any election is to try to win it outright,” Ossoff told the Associated Press recently. “That’s what my team and I are trying to do every day.”

Read more: 6th District candidate Ron Slotin releases ad

The 6th District special election, which was called by Gov. Nathan Deal to replace current U.S. Health Secretary Tom Price, will be held on April 18.

Image via Ossoff Campaign / Facebook