'I Do Not Support A Livable Wage,' Handel Says In Georgia's 6th District Debate

EAST COBB, GA — Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff faced off in a 6th District debate Tuesday night, with each candidate wading into key talking points, including outside money funding their campaigns, the Trump administration's travel ban and other hot topics. The debate was hosted by Atlanta TV station WSB-TV.

Both the Democratic and Republican party see the race as a must-win, as evidenced as the contest becoming the most expensive House race in the nation's history. (To get notified of the local election 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.)

The race has also become a barometer of President Donald Trump's popularity on the local level. Democrats feel that if they can capitalize on voter discontent, they can take the district. The hashtag #Flipthe6th has become popular on social media.

Meanwhile, the GOP has been forced to spend big money on the 6th District — which includes Atlanta's affluent northern suburbs encompassing parts of Cobb, Fulton and DeKalb — to keep what had been in recent decades a strongly Republican base from switching sides.

One whether they backed American workers making a livable wage, here's what they said:

Ossoff: "The minimum wage should be a living wage. I think we can raise it indexed to the cost of living, because the cost of living varies widely in urban and rural areas in different states across this country." He concluded his point, saying, "Look, if someone's working a 40-hour work week, they deserve the kind of standard of living that Americans expect."

Handel said this: "This is an example of the fundamental difference between a liberal and a conservative: I do not support a livable wage. What I support is making sure that we have an economy that is robust with low taxes and less regulation." She went on to say that small businesses would be "dramatically hurt" by higher wages.

On Trump's travel ban, here's what both candidates had to say.

"I believe it's necessary to do everything we possibly can to protect American interests and particularly American citizens," she said, calling the controversial executive order a "temporary, limited halt for six countries who are known to harbor terrorists. I do not — let me be clear — I do not support a religious litmus test, but I do support vetting individuals coming into this country, particularly from those countries."

Ossoff countered, "I think that a policy that restricts travel simply on the basis of the country of origin from which the traveler emerges is not effective. We need an intelligence-driven approach ... an approach that polices threats that emerge outside ... and within the United States within the bounds of the Constitution."

See the entire debate below. The action starts at the 36-minute mark:

The candidates also got to quiz each other. Ossoff appeared to take a swipe at Handel's past as senior vice president of the Susan Komen Fund when the organization yanked funding for Planned Parenthood. He asked her, "If you were committed to going in and defunding breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood, why did you take the job in the first place?"

Handel retorted that she was "one of hundreds of employees" working at the organization and that "It doesn't matter how many times you say it, it doesn't make it true: Planned Parenthood does not do mammograms, period. End of paragraph," she said. At the end of her answer, she said, "I am not going to be lectured by you, Jon."

WSB news anchor Justin Farmer moderated the debate, which included a panel made up of local journalists, including the Atlanta-Journal Constitution political reporter Greg Bluestein, WSB Radio’s Condace Pressley and WSB-TV political reporter Richard Elliot.

The race to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Price, who vacated the seat to become the nation's health secretary, has benefited from an outpouring of cash from outside groups determined to sway the biggest election of 2017 thus far.

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Image via Patch file photo