Jon Ossoff

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Jon Ossoff
U.S. House, Georgia, District 6
Former candidate
Party	Democratic
Prior offices
Senior legislative assistant
January 2010 - August 2012
Legislative correspondent
January 2007 - January 2010
Education
Bachelor's	Georgetown University
Master's	London School of Economics
Personal
Religion	Jewish
Websites
Office website
Campaign website
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Jon Ossoff was a candidate in the 2017 special election to represent Georgia's 6th Congressional District. He qualified for the runoff election on April 18, 2017, receiving 48.1 percent of the vote, but was defeated by Republican Karen Handel on June 20, 2017, by a margin of approximately 3 points. The race was the most expensive in U.S. history and Ossoff raised more than $23 million in an attempt to flip the historically red district.

Elections

2017

See also: Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, 2017

U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election Runoff, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Karen Handel	51.8%	134,799
	Democratic	Jon Ossoff	48.2%	125,517
Total Votes				260,316
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the June 20, 2017, special election runoff to represent the 6th Congressional District of Georgia.

It was the most expensive U.S. House race in history. The two campaigns, along with outside organizations, spent more than $50 million on the election. Although Handel held the advantage with outside groups spending money on the race, the Democratic effort to flip this congressional seat, which has been held by a Republican since 1979, began early. Ossoff raised $8.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, where recent Democratic candidates raised no more than $45,000 in the general election. In April and May, Ossoff raised an additional $15 million. Handel raised $4 million, relying on national political figures like President Donald Trump in May and Vice President Mike Pence in June to helm fundraisers. Although Handel's fundraising paled in comparison to Ossoff's, she outraised recent Republican candidates by more than $2 million.

Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that his party's investment in the race was part of a larger effort to improve party infrastructure across the country. "We're investing heavily here in the Georgia six race, but I'm traveling across the country. We're building strong parties everywhere. That's what we have to do because that's where we fell short in the past. We allowed our basic infrastructure to, you know, to atrophy and we have to build strong parties," he said. This spending was driven primarily by out-of-state contributions, which Handel and conservative outside organizations highlighted in critical campaign ads.

This special election was one of the first chances since 2016 for the Democratic Party to reduce the Republican House majority. When asked about the importance of the race, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R), who represented the district for two decades, told Ballotpedia, "I do think Republicans have to pay attention, and I think it would be a big mistake to allow this district to go to Ossoff, partly because of the psychology nationally, and partly because once a relatively talented person gets in office, it’s really hard to get rid of them."

The Democratic Party had not held Georgia's 6th District since before Gingrich's first election in 1978. However, Trump's victory margin of 1.5 percent over Hillary Clinton in the district in the 2016 presidential race signified that the district could be competitive. Comparatively, Mitt Romney (R) won the district by a margin of 23.3 percent in 2012, and John McCain (R) defeated Barack Obama (D) by 18 percent in 2008. Republicans suggested that Ossoff's failure to win in the district, despite an infusion of cash, was evidence that Democrats would not have electoral success in 2018.

Ossoff was a first-time candidate who previously worked in D.C. as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) for five years and as a documentary producer. Ossoff campaigned against Trump's policies and emphasized small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, and national security. He was characterized as more of a centrist than a progressive by New York Magazine, The Washington Post, National Review, and The New York Times. Handel, who served as the Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010, supported the Trump administration's position on healthcare and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, although she rarely mentioned the president by name while campaigning. She instead focused on promoting conservative principles and economic issues such as improving the tax code for small businesses.

This was the fourth congressional special election of the year and the third won by a Republican.

U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jon Ossoff	48.1%	92,673
	Republican	Karen Handel	19.8%	38,071
	Republican	Bob Gray	10.8%	20,802
	Republican	Dan Moody	8.8%	17,028
	Republican	Judson Hill	8.8%	16,870
	Republican	Kurt Wilson	0.9%	1,820
	Republican	David Abroms	0.9%	1,639
	Democratic	Ragin Edwards	0.3%	504
	Democratic	Ron Slotin	0.3%	491
	Republican	Bruce LeVell	0.2%	455
	Republican	Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan	0.2%	415
	Republican	Keith Grawert	0.2%	415
	Republican	Amy Kremer	0.2%	351
	Republican	William Llop	0.2%	326
	Democratic	Rebecca Quigg	0.2%	304
	Democratic	Richard Keatley	0.1%	229
	Independent	Alexander Hernandez	0.1%	121
	Independent	Andre Pollard	0%	55
Total Votes				192,569
Source: Georgia Secretary of State

Ossoff was the Democratic front-runner in the race. He received endorsements from a number of Democratic members of Congress, including Georgia Reps. Hank Johnson and John Lewis. Ossoff was also endorsed by former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes. Ossoff released his first quarter fundraising figures on April 5, 2017, reporting $8.3 million in donations with $2.1 million remaining cash on hand.

Candidate overview

Jon Ossoff, a journalist and documentary producer, worked on the Hill as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (R-Ga.) for five years. He received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and master's degree from the London School of Economics. With the official announcement of his candidacy in January 2017, Ossoff positioned himself as a counteragent to the Trump administration, saying, “Donald Trump is an embarrassment and a threat to prosperity and health, justice, and security in the Sixth District. I’m running to stop him and to fight for our community in Congress."

On his campaign website, Ossoff listed small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, national security, defending Planned Parenthood, and reducing the mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders as key priorities. In May 2017, he opposed the American Health Care Act of 2017. "I strongly oppose this bill, which allows discrimination against Georgians with pre-existing conditions and would make health insurance unaffordable for millions of families. This bill puts Georgians’ lives at risk. Congress should put aside partisan politics and work to make affordable insurance and quality care available to all Americans," Ossoff said.

Campaign themes

The following issues were listed on Ossoff's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Our Economy: Jon is a small business owner, executive, and entrepreneur — the CEO of a company that produces documentaries investigating organized crime and political corruption. He knows what it means to grow a company, meet a payroll, and balance budgets. Jon has a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics, where he specialized in trade relations between the US and China. Health Care: It is in our strong national interest that every American have quality, affordable health care. Whether it’s a newborn just home from the hospital, a mother battling cancer, or a veteran returned from overseas, our health isn’t negotiable. Our quality of life, our strength, and our prosperity depend on it. Civil Liberties & Civil Rights: Throughout our history, patriots, abolitionists, civil libertarians, suffragettes, and civil rights heroes have made huge sacrifices to advance liberty and justice for all. We should continue striving together toward a more perfect union. Jon will fight for our civil liberties to ensure that every American is free to determine the course of their own life so long as they don’t harm others. Jon will oppose cynical attempts by politicians to win elections by undermining Americans’ hard-fought, sacred voting rights. Women’s Health & Planned Parenthood: Jon will defend women’s access to contraception and a woman’s right to choose and fight any legislation or executive action that would allow insurance companies to discriminate against women. National Security: Jon is a former national security professional who understands the threats America faces and the complexity of international politics. When he was a national security staffer on Capitol Hill, Jon held a top secret security clearance and worked with our military and intelligence community to keep Georgians safe. In Congress, Jon will push for a tough, smart foreign policy that protects our national security while avoiding reckless, destabilizing missteps like the Iraq War.	”
—Jon Ossoff's campaign website

Endorsements

• American Nurses Association (ANA) - The ANA announced its support for Ossoff on June 18, 2017.

• Delta Air Lines Pilots' Union - "Based upon his public stance and plans for active support of the pilot partisan agenda of Delta pilots, we endorse candidate Jon Ossoff in the Georgia 6th Congressional District special election."

• Joshua McLaurin - McLaurin dropped out of the race and endorsed Jon Ossoff on January 17, 2017.

• U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson and John Lewis

• Former Gov. Roy Barnes - "He came to see me early in this campaign, and I was impressed with him then and I've been impressed with him in his campaign. I know he will do well in the election, and I know he will do well as a member of Congress."

• Democracy for America

• Actress Jane Fonda - In the weeks leading up to the April 18 election, Fonda donated $2,000 to the Ossoff campaign.

Fundraising

With more than $29.7 million spent on television ads as of May 6, 2017, the race in the 6th District became the most expensive House contest in U.S. history, according to Politico. While Ossoff has benefited most from interest in the election—raising $8.3 million in the first three months of 2017 from mostly small donors—Handel's campaign reported raising more than $1 million in the week after the April 18 special election. Both President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan held fundraisers for Handel and the Republican-backing Congressional Leadership Fund announced that it would spend $8.5 million by the end of the election. One political strategist in the state estimated that $40 million would be invested in the race.

According to an analysis of candidate spending by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ossoff spent $11.2 million—nearly half of the money he raised—on TV and print advertising and mailers. Handel spent approximately one-quarter of her $4 million on ads. Ossoff also reported paying salaries to 170 staffers, while Handel paid 14 people to work on her campaign.

June 20 runoff spending

Following the April 18 special election, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel continued to raise money ahead of the June 20 runoff election. Ossoff's contributions totaled about $23.6 million, an increase from the $8.3 million his campaign raise prior to April 18. Handel's contributions totaled about $4.6 million, up from about $464,000 prior to the April 18 special election. Both candidates had more than $2 million cash-on-hand for the final days of the campaign. Data was provided by the Federal Election Commission and represented fundraising and spending through May 31, 2017.

Runoff election FEC Report
Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Jon Ossoff	$23,600,861.14	$22,532,609.57	$2,136,503.14
Karen Handel	$4,555,808.76	$3,158,847.03	$2,811,138.82

FEC filings for March 29 through May 31, 2017, showed that Ossoff exceeded Handel's total number of contributors, with 101,308 individual contributors compared to Handel's 5,615 contributors. Ossoff also had more contributors from Georgia than Handel (3,183 to 2,102), but Handel's contributors made up a greater percentage (37.44 percent to 3.14 percent).

Runoff election FEC Report
Candidate	Total number of contributors	Number of contributors from Georgia	Percent of contributors from Georgia
Jon Ossoff	101,308	3,183	3.14%
Karen Handel	5,615	2,102	37.44%

Pre-April 18 candidate spending

Prior to the April 18 election, Jon Ossoff (D) led the field in fundraising by a substantial margin, raising over $8.3 million. Over $5.6 million of that sum was from individual donations of less than $200, which means that detailed information about those donors is unavailable as the FEC does not require donations of less than $200 to be itemized. Of the remaining money, nearly 25 percent came from in-state. Roughly 20 percent came from California, 16 percent from New York, 6 percent from Massachusetts, and 3 percent from Illinois. Karen Handel (R) raised $463,744 and had $183,977 cash on hand. Nearly 90 percent Handel's donations came from within Georgia.

Pre-Special FEC Report
Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Jon Ossoff	$8,320,693	$6,183,941	$2,136,751
Karen Handel	$463,744	$279,767	$183,977

The 2017 special election compared to previous races to represent Georgia's 6th

The 10 most expensive U.S. House races for general election candidates in 2016 involved a total of about $97.1 million in spending, while 10 races that cost the same as the 2017 race for Georgia's 6th Congressional District would total about $256.9 million in spending. In the four most recent elections for the seat prior to 2017, Democratic general election candidates spent a total of $59,166, compared to more than $7 million for Republican general election candidates over the same period. FEC data for the 2017 race showed that candidates spent a total of about $25.7 million, including $22.5 million for Democrat Jon Ossoff and $3.1 million for Republican Karen Handel.

Georgia's 6th General Election Spending
Year	Democratic candidate spending	Republican candidate spending
2010	$0	$1,218,835
2012	$44,593	$1,779,246
2014	$14,573	$1,724,935
2016	$0	$2,462,030
Total 2010 - 2016	$59,166	$7,185,046

2016 Districts with 10 Highest-spending General Election Candidates vs. 2017 GA-6 Runoff Candidates
2016 District	Total spending	2017 Georgia District 6
Florida District 18	$13,706,697	$25,691,457
Wisconsin District 1	$13,410,703
Illinois District 10	$10,503,884
Arizona District 2	$9,402,312
New Jersey District 5	$9,006,502
Montana At-Large	$8,587,609
California District 49	$8,316,845
Virginia District 10	$8,112,264
California District 23	$8,107,679
New York District 1	$7,922,937

2016 U.S. House Spending vs. 2017 GA-6
2016 Spending on Top 10 Races	2017 Spending on GA-6 x 10
$97,077,432	$256,914,570

• Special election spending provided by the Federal Election Commission was accurate through May 31, 2017

Runoff polling (Handel v. Ossoff)

Georgia's 6th District special election runoff
Poll	Karen Handel	Jon Ossoff	Undecided	Margin of Error	Sample Size
WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 19, 2017	48.9%	49.0%	2.1%	+/-4.4	500
The Trafalgar Group June 17-18, 2017	50.5%	48.6%	1.0%	+/-2.9	1,100
WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 15, 2017	48.0%	49.7%	2.3%	+/-3.46	800
Fox 5 / Opinion Savvy June 15, 2017	49.4%	49.7%	1.0%	+/-4.2	537
The Trafalgar Group June 10-13, 2017	47.3%	50.2%	2.3%	+/-2.9	1,100
11 Alive / Survey USA June 7-11, 2017	47%	47%	6%	+/-4.5	700
WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 6-7, 2017	47.1%	49.6%	3.3%	+/-4.78	420
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution June 5-8, 2017	44%	51%	5%	+/-4.0	745
WSB-TV / Landmark Communications May 30-31, 2017	47.6%	49.1%	3.3%	+/-4.38	500
Survey USA May 16-20, 2017	44%	51%	6%	+/-4.3	549
Gravis Marketing May 8-10, 2017	45%	47%	8%	+/-3.3	870
WSB-TV / Landmark Communications May 3-4, 2017	49.1%	46.5%	4.4%	+/-3.96	611
GBA Strategies April 29 - May 1, 2017	48%	50%	2%	+/-4.9	400
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Pre-April 18 election polling

Using the last five polls prior to the April 18 special election, Ballotpedia compared polling averages with election results. Of the polls analyzed, all of them underestimated the support for Democrat Jon Ossoff and all but one of them underestimated the support for Republican Karen Handel. Polling averages for Ossoff and Handel were below election results by 6.0 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.

Candidate	Polling average	Election results	Polling accuracy
Jon Ossoff	42.0%	48.1%	-6.0%
Karen Handel	16.8%	19.8%	-3.0%
Bob Gray	12.4%	10.8%	+1.6%
Judson Hill	8.8%	8.8%	+0.0%
Dan Moody	9.0%	8.8%	+0.2%

Georgia's 6th District special election (2017)
Poll	Jon Ossoff	Karen Handel	Bob Gray	Judson Hill	Dan Moody	Bruce LeVell	Amy Kremer	Ron Slotin	David Abroms	Kurt Wilson	Unsure or Other	Margin of Error	Sample Size
Clout Research/Zpolitics April 14-15, 2017	41.3%	15.3%	16.6%	9.7%	9.1%	0.8%	0%	0.7%	2.9%	0%	3.6%	+/-4.58	453
Fox 5/Opinion Savvy April 13, 2017	41.5%	21.2%	10.6%	11.3%	9.4%	0%	0%	0.3%	0.6%	0.8%	3.2%	+/-4.6	437
WSB-TV April 12-13, 2017	45.3%	17.4%	8.6%	8%	8.4%	0.5%	0.5%	1.6%	1.5%	1%	7.2%	+/-4.2	500
RRH Elections/Decision Desk HQ April 5-10, 2017	39%	15%	12%	10%	11%	0%	0%	4%	3%	0%	6%	+/-5	321
11 Alive/SurveyUSA March 27-April 2, 2017	43%	15%	14%	5%	7%	1%	1%	0%	2%	1%	7%	+/-4.5	503
MoveOn.org/Lake Research Partners March 26-28, 2017	40%	18%	7%	8%	7%	0%	0%	1%	0%	0%	19%	+/-5.2	350
Fox 5/Opinion Savvy March 22-23, 2017	39.8%	19.9%	10.4%	9.5%	8.0%	0.4%	0.1%	1.3%	1.6%	1.8%	5.8%	+/-4.5	462
Clout Research March 15-16, 2017	40.9%	16.1%	15.6%	9.2%	5.1%	0.6%	0%	2.9%	1.7%	0%	7.9%	+/-3.8	625
Trafalgar Group March 2-3, 2017	18.31%	17.98%	13.42%	7.98%	2.11%	0.45%	3.05%	2.82%	0%	0%	33.9%	+/-4.5	450
Clout Research/Zpolitics February 17-18, 2017	31.7%	24.9%	10.6%	9.2%	2.0%	1.2%	0%	0%	0%	0%	20.4%	+/-3.7	694
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Career

• Present: Managing director and CEO of Insights TWI, a filmmaking company that produces documentaries focused on international investigative journalism.
• 2010-2012: Campaign staffer serving as deputy communications chief and campaign manager for Johnson.
• 2010-2012: Senior legislative assistant to Johnson.
• 2007-2010: Legislative correspondent to Rep. Hank Johnson (D).
• 2005: Intern for Rep. John Lewis (D).

Personal

It was reported on May 7, 2017, that Ossoff was engaged to marry Emory University medical student Alisha Kramer.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Jon Ossoff Georgia Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Jon Ossoff - Google News

See also

• United States House of Representatives
• Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election, 2017
• Georgia's 6th Congressional District

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• Facebook page
• Twitter feed

Footnotes

[show]

Georgia's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Jon Ossoff (D)

Raphael Warnock (D)

Representatives

District 1

Earl Carter (R)

District 2

Sanford Bishop (D)

District 3

Brian Jack (R)

District 4

Hank Johnson (D)

District 5

Nikema Williams (D)

District 6

Lucy McBath (D)

District 7

Rich McCormick (R)

District 8

Austin Scott (R)

District 9

Andrew Clyde (R)

District 10

Mike Collins (R)

District 11

Barry Loudermilk (R)

District 12

Rick Allen (R)

District 13

David Scott (D)

District 14

Vacant

Republican Party (8)

Democratic Party (7)

Vacancies (1)