Georgia Republican Wins Expensive House Race To Replace Tom Price

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel has won the special election for Georgia's Sixth Congressional District Seat. Handel ran against a political rookie Jon Ossoff. It was a very contentious, tight, and expensive race. A large chunk of campaign funds came from California.

During her acceptance speech, Handel said, "Tonight, I stand before you extremely humbled and honored at the tremendous privilege and high responsibility of representing you in the U.S. House of Representatives."

Handel defeated political rookie Jon Ossoff in a race that's taken on national significance, and getting a lot of attention- and money- from California. It's a point Handel hammered home in her ads, highlighting the fact that her opponent was the favorite in San Francisco, where liberal values rule.

More dollars poured into Ossoff's campaign from California than any other state- $536,000. More than half of that money came from the Bay Area alone.

Ossoff was hoping to pull off the ultimate upset in a district that has kept a Republican in the seat since Jimmy Carter was president. In his concession speech, he vowed the fight isn't over.

"This is the beginning of something much bigger than this," said Ossoff.

The election was viewed as a referendum on President Trump, who carried the district by only a point and a half in November. The president weighed in often on the race, tweeting Tuesday morning: "Democrat Jon Ossoff, who wants to raise your taxes to the highest level and is weak on crime and security, doesn't even live in the district."

The contest was the most expensive House race in history. The candidates spent more than $56 million, nearly double the previous record.