Political Insider

The search for Tom Price's vanquished opponent in Georgia's 6th

Then-candidate Karen Handel works a room full of supporters during her election night viewing party in April. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Then-candidate Karen Handel works a room full of supporters during her election night viewing party in April. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
June 22, 2017

Some Democrats are taking solace that Jon Ossoff cut the Republican margin of victory in 6th District race from 24 points to about 4 points. And that's true: Tom Price's opponent Rodney Stooksbury notched just 38 percent of the vote in November.

But a word of caution about comparing the two totals: Stooksbury appears to be a phantom.

He raised no money. He had no social media or online presence. As far as we can tell, he never had any campaign events. Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporters and those from other outlets couldn't track him down.

That said, Price also defeated another Democrat – Bob Montigel – in 2014 by an even bigger margin.

A more useful metric when analyzing the results of Tuesday's Karen Handel victory: Nonpartisan analysts suggest the Democratic baseline in Georgia's 6th District is closer to the low 40s than high 30s.