Jon Ossoff's first place finish in Georgia's 6th Congressional District race to replace former Rep. Tom Price is a sign that the the South is changing when it comes to Republican politics, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday.
"This should be a wake-up call for the Republican Party in the South," the South Carolina Republican told NBC's "Today" show. "But the South is changing. Atlanta is changing."
Ossoff came in with 48.1 percent of the vote, just short of the 50 percent plus one he would have needed to avoid a runoff challenge. Ossoff, 30, a documentary filmmaker, is also a former congressional staffer.
In June, Ossoff will face the top Republican vote winner, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, to replace Price, who is now serving as secretary of Health and Human Services.
The 6th Congressional District has been held by a Republican since 1978, when Newt Gingrich was elected.
Graham said he believes there was a "casting" in Tuesday's race that pitted "Hollywood versus Georgia," but at the same time, there are districts all over the United States that are becoming more moderate.
The senator said he does like Handel's chances in the June runoff, even though she came in at several points behind Ossoff in Tuesday's race.
"She's probably the best Republican we could have chosen," Graham said. "I like her chances to win this seat."
Graham, also appearing on Fox News' "Fox and Friends," told that program that Handel is a "solid conservative that handles herself really well," and that he believes the bottom line will be that the race will pit the "liberal left versus mainstream Georgia."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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