Is Karen Handel (GA-6) vulnerable?

[Lamda]

I think yes,Kevin Abel is much better candidate than Jon Ossoff.

[Politician]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

[mcmikk]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

[GeorgiaModerate]

I think yes,Kevin Abel is much better candidate than Jon Ossoff.

I think Bobby Kaple has the edge in the primary due to his name recognition and endorsements, but is by no means a lock.  It's certainly possible that Abel could win the nomination.

Handel hasn't done much to gain negative attention since taking office, and has no primary opposition.  Until some polling comes out (if any does) I'd call this Lean R.

[Holy Unifying Centrist]

I think it's a district that is too hard for democrats to win. Handel is a decent incumbent.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

No.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

Absolutely. It's a Tossup district and she isn't a particularly strong incumbent.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

With hundreds of other seats to fight for, Dems won't be able to put the resources they need to flip this district.

[Rookie Yinzer]

No. It'll obviously be closer than ever before but she'll hold on.

[kyc0705]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

That's Atlas. The day before the election, there was literally a TL about him becoming President in 2024. Then he lost, and everybody acted like it was inevitable.

[Virginiá]

I think she's vulnerable, but I don't see it flipping unless it's a decent-sized wave. I can't help but feel like Democrats would be hard-pressed to find the extra ~1.9% they need to flip it. It's easy to forget, but this was a district that regularly went for Republican presidents/candidates by 20 points or more (it's still technically R+8, for the time being), so for Democrats to get them down to tossup/Leans R in one election, that's incredible as it is.

But, not impossible by any means.

[Figueira]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

He underperformed Hillary in the district, and ran his campaign on nothing. Democrats shouldn't try the hardest to flip rich, suburban Republican districts, they should try to mainly flip all districts that are even slightly vulnerable.

Hillary's was already a vast overperformance compared to previous Democrats (and Price's 2016 opponent).

[Skill and Chance]

She did exceedingly well compared to all of the other GOP special election candidates.  It's the kind of district that should flip in a big enough wave, but I think it would be around the 60th Dem pickup of the night.

It will probably flip in 2022 if Trump is reelected.

[Tartarus Sauce]

The correct answer is yes because the question is whether she is vulnerable, not whether she will lose. Some people seem to have taken Ossof's loss as an indicator that this seat is safe R, which is simply not true. Handel will have held the seat for just a little bit over a year by the midterms and is not a particularly strong incumbent. If Democrats net a seat pick up in the 30s or 40s, this seat will probably not be one of those. If Democrats are scoring a seat pick up into the 50s, 60s, or even 70s, this is exactly the type of seat that would fall.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

Considering that he too managed to produce a massive swing away from the Republican Party as Tiperneni, Lamb, and Jones also managed to do, I think he deserves a slight redemption. It just didn't feel that way because Democrats haven't won anything at that point. But really, he and pretty much every other Democrat who won or lost a special election, were still part of the same trend we are noticing today.

[Podgy the Bear]

She has the power of incumbency now--it will be tough for Kaple or Abel to dislodge.

[Mr. Smith]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

Considering that he too managed to produce a massive swing away from the Republican Party as Tiperneni, Lamb, and Jones also managed to do, I think he deserves a slight redemption. It just didn't feel that way because Democrats haven't won anything at that point. But really, he and pretty much every other Democrat who won or lost a special election, were still part of the same trend we are noticing today.

He did worse in the run-off than the primary, and underperformed Hillary.

At least Rob Quist, Archie Parnell, and Thompson did none of those things around the same time, and with far less money invested at that.

Also, his campaign was very vapid towards the end.

[Figueira]

Yes, her race is a tossup. Thank god Jon "spend your" Ossoff is not running.

I don't get all the Ossoff hate tbh. He ran a fairly good campaign, especially for a first-timer. He wasn't bad just because he lost(though, granted, the whole not-living-in-the-district thing isn't exactly a positive), and to be honest I think he would win if the same election were held today.

He underperformed Hillary in the district, and ran his campaign on nothing. Democrats shouldn't try the hardest to flip rich, suburban Republican districts, they should try to mainly flip all districts that are even slightly vulnerable.

Hillary's was already a vast overperformance compared to previous Democrats (and Price's 2016 opponent).

...which was due to rich, suburban Republicans voting for her. What D's failed to realize is that these people would still vote for a generic Republican over a generic Democrat (Ossoff).

This doesn't exactly jive with your original comment that Ossoff was a bad candidate. If Democrats were doomed here anyway, isn't it impressive that Ossoff even came close?

[Fuzzy Bear]

She has the power of incumbency now--it will be tough for Kaple or Abel to dislodge.

I don't predict her to lose, but she's no better than "likely" Republican.  She's one of the more secure "lean" Republicans.

[Young Conservative]

Democrats’ obsession with suburban districts is going to end up as a waste of money. There are easier, less expensive seats for them.

[Politician]

Democrats’ obsession with suburban districts is going to end up as a waste of money. There are easier, less expensive seats for them.

Exactly. Dems should target white working-class districts and easily flippable districts, not Atlanta country clubs.

[Tartarus Sauce]

Democrats’ obsession with suburban districts is going to end up as a waste of money. There are easier, less expensive seats for them.

Exactly. Dems should target white working-class districts and easily flippable districts, not Atlanta country clubs.

Democrats should target everywhere, not fall for either/or false dilemmas.