Handel bested Ossoff by 5 percentage points in the most expensive House race in history.
Inside the West Wing, Trump and his advisers have paid increasing attention to the race and have been briefed regularly on Handel's standing in private polls, GOP ground efforts and early-vote totals, according to a White House official. A defeat for Republican candidate Karen Handel will be crushing blow for the president - losing a Republican seat in an overwhelmingly Republican state.
In his concession speech, Ossoff argued the enthusiasm his campaign was able to generate was still a good sign for the party in a race that wasn't expected to be close at the outset.
The outcome of Georgia's contest is likely to become a prism through which congressional Republicans view Trump - a reality with major policy and political implications.
The Congressional Leadership Fund paid for a auto to drive around in the district with Ossoff's and Pelosi's faces and a sign that said "San Francisco 3 Jon Ossoff".
The Congressional Leadership Fund, which spent close to $7 million on the race, was especially scathing in linking Ossoff to Hollywood. This would be the dream scenario for Democrats, who hope that the fact this race is competitive portends that many, many more seats in the 2018 midterm elections will also be competitive. With nearly 90 percent of the vote counted, Handel held a five-point lead with 52 percent of the vote.
Special elections can be particularly useful tea leaves for studying the national mood, said Stuart Rothenberg, a nonpartisan elections analyst and columnist at The Washington Post.
Speaking after her win, Handel said her first priorities in Congress will be finishing the GOP health-care bill and working to lower corporate and individual tax rates. "Everything we're seeing is incredibly encouraging", she said, though she noted it's "very, very early".
SC voters cast their ballots on Tuesday for several special elections, including the race for Congress to replace Mick Mulvaney.
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I love to play here, I love you guys, you're wonderful . "It was extremely tough today as Karolina is a very tough opponent". It's a habit that players tend to grow out of, when the importance of winning changes, but for now she goes for broke.
The race has widely been seen as a litmus test for the 2018 midterm elections.
In the early-April special election in Kansas for newly-appointed Central Intelligence Agency director Mike Pompeo's former House seat, Democrat James Thompson was defeated by only seven points in a district which President Trump won by 27 points. State officials say they're confident the technology is secure.
"She said she feels positive about her chances against Ossoff, and said Republicans are motivated" as "they do not want someone who lives outside of the district coming in and representing them, and they surely don't want [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi coming in to buy this seat".
For Ossoff supporter David Ware, the decision is based on his belief that health care should be affordable.
The argument made by even Trump allies, such as Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the state's former governor, in the closing days was that even if you don't like Trump, don't hold that against Handel. Yet Ossoff barely mentions Trump, talking instead in generalities about "restoring civility" and Congress' oversight role.
She's also known as a Susan G. Komen Foundation executive when the organization in 2012 sought to cut off its support of Planned Parenthood, which provides services including abortions.
However, it was Trump's collapse - besting Hillary Clinton by just 1.5 points in the district in 2016 - that led Democrats to believe it could be in play.
Handel, meanwhile, hasn't fully embraced Trump, but she hasn't completely distanced herself from him either.
Fundraising emails from a host of Democratic Party and progressive groups did not emphasize his centrism, not after a presidential race where forceful outsiders like Sanders and Trump grabbed the voting public.
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