New polls show Democrat Jon Ossoff leading in the race to win Georgia’s 6th congressional district, a race that’s being closely watched by politicians and political junkies as a litmus test for the 2018 mid-term elections.
A poll conducted by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution released on Friday shows Ossoff with a seven-point lead over Republican Karen Handel ahead of the run-off election on June 20. The poll of likely voters had Ossoff ahead of Handel 51 to 44 percent, with a margin of error of four percentage points.
The poll found that Ossoff is leading Handel among women and young voters while Handel is more popular among male voters and people over 65.
Similarly, a poll released on Thursday conducted by Landmark Communications has Ossoff leading Handel by a margin of 49.6 percent to 47.1 percent. In that poll, the margin of error was approximately 5 percent.
The poll found that Ossoff is convincing around 15 percent of Republican voters and a “narrow majority” of independents in the district.
Georgia’s 6th congressional district has long been held by Republicans, most recently by Tom Price, who was appointed as the secretary of Health and Human Services by President Donald Trump. On average, Ossoff is leading by two to three points.
Ossoff’s surprising prominence is giving liberal politicos hope for similar upsets in districts across the United States ahead of the midterm elections next year.
While Democrats hoped upsets might occur in Montana, Kansas and other races, none of them had the attention—or the money—like Ossoff’s race in Georgia. Ossoff raised $15 million in the past two months, bringing his total haul to $23 million. According to Politico, more than $40 million has been spent in the Georgia 6th race—a record sum for a single House seat.
Overall, House Democrats are already raising much more money than usual ahead of the 2018 midterms.