Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in the June 20, 2017, special election runoff to represent the 6th Congressional District of Georgia.

It was the most expensive U.S. House race in history. The two campaigns, along with outside organizations, spent more than $50 million on the election.] Although Handel held the advantage with outside groups spending money on the race, the Democratic effort to flip this congressional seat, which has been held by a Republican since 1979, began early. Ossoff raised $8.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, where recent Democratic candidates raised no more than $45,000 in the general election. In April and May, Ossoff raised an additional $15 million.Handel raised $4 million, relying on national political figures like President Donald Trump in May and Vice President Mike Pence in June to helm fundraisers.Although Handel's fundraising paled in comparison to Ossoff's, she outraised recent Republican candidates by more than $2 million.

Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that his party's investment in the race was part of a larger effort to improve party infrastructure across the country. "We're investing heavily here in the Georgia six race, but I'm traveling across the country. We're building strong parties everywhere. That's what we have to do because that's where we fell short in the past. We allowed our basic infrastructure to, you know, to atrophy and we have to build strong parties," he said.This spending was driven primarily by out-of-state contributions, which Handel and conservative outside organizations highlighted in critical campaign ads.

This special election was one of the first chances since 2016 for the Democratic Party to put a small dent in the Republican House majority. When asked about the importance of the race, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R), who represented the district for two decades, told Ballotpedia, "I do think Republicans have to pay attention, and I think it would be a big mistake to allow this district to go to Ossoff, partly because of the psychology nationally, and partly because once a relatively talented person gets in office, it’s really hard to get rid of them."

Under normal circumstances, Georgia's 6th District would have been seen as a safe Republican district, as the Democratic Party had not held the seat since before Gingrich's first election in 1978. However, Trump's narrow win by a margin of 1.5 percent over Hillary Clinton in the district in the 2016 presidential race signified that the district could be competitive. Comparatively, Mitt Romney (R) won the district by a margin of 23.3 percent in 2012, and John McCain (R) defeated Barack Obama (D) by 18 percent in 2008.Republicans suggested that Ossoff's failure to win in the district, despite an infusion of cash, was evidence that there would be wave left in 2018 against the Trump administration and its policies.

Ossoff was a first-time candidate, having previously worked on the Hill as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) for five years and as a documentary producer. While he positioned himself as a counteragent to Trump with a focus on small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, and national security, he was also characterized as more of a centrist than a progressive by New York Magazine, The Washington Post, National Review, and The New York Times. Handel, who served as the Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010, supported the Trump administration's position on healthcare and the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, although she rarely mentioned his name on the stump. She instead focused on promoting conservative principles and economic issues like improving the tax code for small businesses.

This was the fourth congressional special election of the year and the third that a Republican won.

Runoff candidates

Democratic Party Jon Ossoff (D)

Jon Ossoff, a journalist and documentary producer, worked on the Hill as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) for five years. He received his bachelor's degree from Georgetown University and master's degree from the London School of Economics. With the official announcement of his candidacy in January 2017, Ossoff positioned himself as a counteragent to the Trump administration, saying, “Donald Trump is an embarrassment and a threat to prosperity and health, justice, and security in the Sixth District. I’m running to stop him and to fight for our community in Congress."

On his campaign website, Ossoff listed small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, national security, defending Planned Parenthood, and reducing the mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders as key priorities.In May 2017, he opposed the American Health Care Act of 2017. "I strongly oppose this bill, which allows discrimination against Georgians with pre-existing conditions and would make health insurance unaffordable for millions of families. This bill puts Georgians’ lives at risk. Congress should put aside partisan politics and work to make affordable insurance and quality care available to all Americans," Ossoff said.

Karen Handel (R)

Karen Handel served as the Georgia Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010. Following her time in office, she worked at Susan G. Komen for the Cure as the vice president for public policy. When she announced her candidacy in February 2017, Handel highlighted repealing the Affordable Care Act and reducing regulations and spending as priorities. "I have a record of standing up and fighting the status quo to get things done and I will take that fight to Washington," Handel said.

Handel identified anti-abortion legislation, repealing the Affordable Care Act, constructing a border wall, improving guest worker programs, simplifying the tax code, establishing a 10-year sunset provision on regulations, and increasing national defense spending as policy priorities. Handel's campaign said in a statement that she would have supported the American Health Care Act of 2017: "Karen would have joined with the Republicans in the Georgia delegation in voting in favor of the bill. She believes that the status quo is unacceptable and that this legislation, while not perfect, represents just the first step in replacing Obamacare with patient-centered healthcare.

Handel spoke with Ballotpedia on March 31, 2017, about her campaign.