Tuesday’s Georgia House special election that set up a June runoff was a “big loss” for Democrats, the White House said Wednesday.
“The Democrats went all in on this. They said their goal was to go over 50 percent, they came up short,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.
Republicans are claiming victory in Tuesday’s election in a district that is a traditional GOP stronghold, but where Democrats mounted a strong challenge.
{mosads}Democrat Jon Ossoff is projected to advance to a runoff in the district formerly represented by Tom Price, who is now President Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.
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But Ossoff failed to clinch a majority of the vote in a jungle primary in order to avoid another election in late June. He will face Republican Karen Handel in the runoff.
Trump plugged Handel’s candidacy in a Wednesday morning tweet.
“Dems failed in Kansas and are now failing in Georgia,” the president tweeted. “Great job Karen Handel! It is now Hollywood vs. Georgia on June 20th.”