An internal poll conducted for Democrat Jon Ossoff's campaign shows him locked in a dead heat with Republican Karen Handel in the June 20 runoff to represent Georgia's 6th District.
The poll was conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, a polling firm that worked for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. And while it’s an internal poll, it’s also the first we’ve seen since Ossoff narrowly missed an outright win in last month’s special election.
It shows Ossoff leading Handel 48-47, well within the 4 percent margin of error. It has a scant 5 percent of voters in the district as undecided – reflective of the all-consuming nature of the nationally-watched race.
Ossoff campaign manager Keenan Pontoni said it shows the 30-year-old Democrat, until a few months ago scarcely known in the district, is "winning" thanks to on-the-ground enthusiasm.
"Four months ago, nobody expected us to even break 40 percent," said Pontoni. "Now, after our historic first-place finish on April 18th and this encouraging poll, we're seeing the results of our community's massive outreach efforts, and with our plans to ramp up those efforts even more, our campaign is well-positioned to win on June 20th."
The data doesn’t include crosstabs, but it does include this Ossoff-friendly tidbit: About 25 percent of voters who participated in the April special election voted in 2016 but not 2014 – just the type of voter Ossoff needs in his corner to win June’s matchup. The poll shows Ossoff has a 12-point lead over Handel among these voters.
The poll was conducted from April 23-26 and surveyed 590 likely runoff voters. Check it out here.
The race to represent the district, which spans from east Cobb to north DeKalb, has become the premier political contest of the year and is seen nationally as a referendum on Donald Trump. It's also shaping up to be the most expensive House race ever, with both parties pouring money and resources into the contest.
Read the latest 6th District news:
About the Author
