Republican Holds Lead In Georgia Race Seen As Trump Referendum

WASHINGTON, , (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jun, 2017 ) - Early results trickled in for Tuesday's closely-watched election in Georgia, the most expensive congressional race ever, with the Republican narrowly leading a contest that Democrats have painted as a referendum on Donald Trump's scandal-plagued presidency.

The $60-million special election has been a nailbiter between a Democratic novice seeking to score an upset in a conservative stronghold, and an establishment Republican eager to steady the ship in a district that only narrowly backed Trump in last November's vote.

The special election in the southern state is painted as a referendum on Trump, and the result may presage how his presidency -- for better or worse -- could influence the battle for control of Congress in 2018.

With 99 of 208 precincts fully reporting, Republican Karen Handel was ahead of Democrat Jon Ossoff by 52.58 percent to 47.42 percent, according to Georgia secretary of state incoming results. Polls closed at 7:00 pm (2300 GMT).

The race came down to the wire as Ossoff, a 30-year-old filmmaker and onetime political staffer running on a centrist message, and Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, spent election day seeking to convert as many independent or undecided voters as possible.

Republicans are facing a sobering reminder of their president's poor approval ratings, which could act as a drag on their efforts to hold not just this congressional seat, but also the 435-member House of Representatives next year.

But early results appear to show Handel has performed better than expected in Democratic-leaning portions of Georgia's sixth district. Should Handel win, Trump may well claim some credit for getting her across the finish line.

The president recorded a robo-call for her, and tweeted several messages encouraging Republicans to troop to the polls and cast their votes for her. Handel, Trump tweeted early Tuesday, "will fight for lower taxes, great healthcare strong security -- a hard worker who will never give up! VOTE TODAY." Ossoff is trying to flip the Atlanta suburbs that Republican Tom price left to become Trump's health secretary.