Pence Plans Friday Visit To Marietta To Campaign For Handel

MARIETTA, GA -- Vice President Mike Pence will land in Cobb County on Friday to campaign for 6th District Republican candidate Karen Handel, the White House said. Pence's itinerary will include visiting military families at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta as well as a fundraiser for Handel later in the day, Patch has learned.

The vice president is scheduled to arrive at Dobbins at 11 a.m., according to news reports.

The one-day trip marks the latest GOP luminary to personally swing through Atlanta to stump for Handel, who is involved in a dead-heat race with Democrat Jon Ossoff for the 6th District House of Representatives seat. 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 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.

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.

Read more: Handel says in debate: 'I do not support a livable wage'

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.

Earlier in the week, Ossoff and Handel debated each other before a local TV audience, 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 latest poll indicates that the race, which will conclude in the June 20 election, is neck and neck.

Rep. Barry Loudermilk will accompany Pence on Air Force Two in his visit with military personnel and their families at Dobbins.

“Dobbins Air Reserve Base is the world’s foremost multi-service reserve training base,” Loudermilk said in a news release. “Dobbins provides crucial training and support for army, marine, navy, and air force reservists and has a significant economic impact on Georgia’s 11th District. I am honored to join Vice President Mike Pence in recognizing our local military personnel and their families at the base tomorrow.”

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