Ragin Edwards
Ragin Edwards (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Georgia House of Representatives to represent District 37. Edwards lost in the Democratic primary on May 22, 2018.
Edwards was a candidate who ran in the special election to represent the 6th Congressional District of Georgia.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 37
Mary Frances Williams defeated incumbent Sam Teasley in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 37 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mary Frances Williams (D) | 50.4 | 11,928 |
 | Sam Teasley (R) | 49.6 | 11,755 | |
| Total votes: 23,683 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 37
Mary Frances Williams defeated Ragin Edwards and Bill Bolton in the Democratic primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 37 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mary Frances Williams | 70.0 | 1,964 |
 | Ragin Edwards | 18.3 | 514 | |
 | Bill Bolton | 11.7 | 327 | |
| Total votes: 2,805 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 37
Incumbent Sam Teasley advanced from the Republican primary for Georgia House of Representatives District 37 on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Teasley | 100.0 | 3,012 |
| Total votes: 3,012 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2017
| U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election Runoff, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Karen Handel |
51.8% | 134,799 | |
| Democratic | Jon Ossoff | 48.2% | 125,517 | |
| Total Votes | 260,316 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] 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 reduce 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."
The Democratic Party had not held Georgia's 6th District since before Gingrich's first election in 1978. However, Trump's victory 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.[6][7] Republicans suggested that Ossoff's failure to win in the district, despite an infusion of cash, was evidence that Democrats would not have electoral success in 2018.
Ossoff was a first-time candidate who previously worked in D.C. as a legislative aide to Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) for five years and as a documentary producer. Ossoff campaigned against Trump's policies and emphasized small business growth, affordable healthcare, preserving Medicare and Medicaid, and national security. He was characterized as more of a centrist than a progressive by New York Magazine, The Washington Post, National Review, and The New York Times.[8] 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 the president by name while campaigning.[9] She instead focused on promoting conservative principles and economic issues such as improving the tax code for small businesses.
This was the fourth congressional special election of the year and the third won by a Republican.
| U.S. House, Georgia District 6 Special Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jon Ossoff |
48.1% | 92,673 | |
| Republican | Karen Handel |
19.8% | 38,071 | |
| Republican | Bob Gray | 10.8% | 20,802 | |
| Republican | Dan Moody | 8.8% | 17,028 | |
| Republican | Judson Hill | 8.8% | 16,870 | |
| Republican | Kurt Wilson | 0.9% | 1,820 | |
| Republican | David Abroms | 0.9% | 1,639 | |
| Democratic | Ragin Edwards | 0.3% | 504 | |
| Democratic | Ron Slotin | 0.3% | 491 | |
| Republican | Bruce LeVell | 0.2% | 455 | |
| Republican | Mohammad Ali Bhuiyan | 0.2% | 415 | |
| Republican | Keith Grawert | 0.2% | 415 | |
| Republican | Amy Kremer | 0.2% | 351 | |
| Republican | William Llop | 0.2% | 326 | |
| Democratic | Rebecca Quigg | 0.2% | 304 | |
| Democratic | Richard Keatley | 0.1% | 229 | |
| Independent | Alexander Hernandez | 0.1% | 121 | |
| Independent | Andre Pollard | 0% | 55 | |
| Total Votes | 192,569 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State | ||||
Polls
Runoff polling (Handel v. Ossoff)
| Georgia's 6th District special election runoff | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Karen Handel | Jon Ossoff | Undecided | Margin of Error | Sample Size | ||||||||||||||
| WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 19, 2017 | 48.9% | 49.0% | 2.1% | +/-4.4 | 500 | ||||||||||||||
| The Trafalgar Group June 17-18, 2017 | 50.5% | 48.6% | 1.0% | +/-2.9 | 1,100 | ||||||||||||||
| WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 15, 2017 | 48.0% | 49.7% | 2.3% | +/-3.46 | 800 | ||||||||||||||
| Fox 5 / Opinion Savvy June 15, 2017 | 49.4% | 49.7% | 1.0% | +/-4.2 | 537 | ||||||||||||||
| The Trafalgar Group June 10-13, 2017 | 47.3% | 50.2% | 2.3% | +/-2.9 | 1,100 | ||||||||||||||
| 11 Alive / Survey USA June 7-11, 2017 | 47% | 47% | 6% | +/-4.5 | 700 | ||||||||||||||
| WSB-TV / Landmark Communications June 6-7, 2017 | 47.1% | 49.6% | 3.3% | +/-4.78 | 420 | ||||||||||||||
| The Atlanta Journal-Constitution June 5-8, 2017 | 44% | 51% | 5% | +/-4.0 | 745 | ||||||||||||||
| WSB-TV / Landmark Communications May 30-31, 2017 | 47.6% | 49.1% | 3.3% | +/-4.38 | 500 | ||||||||||||||
| Survey USA May 16-20, 2017 | 44% | 51% | 6% | +/-4.3 | 549 | ||||||||||||||
| Gravis Marketing May 8-10, 2017 | 45% | 47% | 8% | +/-3.3 | 870 | ||||||||||||||
| WSB-TV / Landmark Communications May 3-4, 2017 | 49.1% | 46.5% | 4.4% | +/-3.96 | 611 | ||||||||||||||
| GBA Strategies April 29 - May 1, 2017 | 48% | 50% | 2% | +/-4.9 | 400 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected] | |||||||||||||||||||
Pre-April 18 election polling
Using the last five polls prior to the April 18 special election, Ballotpedia compared polling averages with election results. Of the polls analyzed, all of them underestimated the support for Democrat Jon Ossoff and all but one of them underestimated the support for Republican Karen Handel. Polling averages for Ossoff and Handel were below election results by 6.0 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively.
| Candidate | Polling average | Election results | Polling accuracy |
|---|---|---|---|
 Jon Ossoff |
42.0% | 48.1% | -6.0% |
 Karen Handel |
16.8% | 19.8% | -3.0% |
| Bob Gray |
12.4% | 10.8% | +1.6% |
| Judson Hill |
8.8% | 8.8% | +0.0% |
| Dan Moody |
9.0% | 8.8% | +0.2% |
| Georgia's 6th District special election (2017) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Jon Ossoff | Karen Handel | Bob Gray | Judson Hill | Dan Moody | Bruce LeVell | Amy Kremer | Ron Slotin | David Abroms | Kurt Wilson | Unsure or Other | Margin of Error | Sample Size | ||||||
| Clout Research/Zpolitics April 14-15, 2017 | 41.3% | 15.3% | 16.6% | 9.7% | 9.1% | 0.8% | 0% | 0.7% | 2.9% | 0% | 3.6% | +/-4.58 | 453 | ||||||
| Fox 5/Opinion Savvy April 13, 2017 | 41.5% | 21.2% | 10.6% | 11.3% | 9.4% | 0% | 0% | 0.3% | 0.6% | 0.8% | 3.2% | +/-4.6 | 437 | ||||||
| WSB-TV April 12-13, 2017 | 45.3% | 17.4% | 8.6% | 8% | 8.4% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1% | 7.2% | +/-4.2 | 500 | ||||||
| RRH Elections/Decision Desk HQ April 5-10, 2017 | 39% | 15% | 12% | 10% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 3% | 0% | 6% | +/-5 | 321 | ||||||
| 11 Alive/SurveyUSA March 27-April 2, 2017 | 43% | 15% | 14% | 5% | 7% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 2% | 1% | 7% | +/-4.5 | 503 | ||||||
| MoveOn.org/Lake Research Partners March 26-28, 2017 | 40% | 18% | 7% | 8% | 7% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 19% | +/-5.2 | 350 | ||||||
| Fox 5/Opinion Savvy March 22-23, 2017 | 39.8% | 19.9% | 10.4% | 9.5% | 8.0% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 5.8% | +/-4.5 | 462 | ||||||
| Clout Research March 15-16, 2017 | 40.9% | 16.1% | 15.6% | 9.2% | 5.1% | 0.6% | 0% | 2.9% | 1.7% | 0% | 7.9% | +/-3.8 | 625 | ||||||
| Trafalgar Group March 2-3, 2017 | 18.31% | 17.98% | 13.42% | 7.98% | 2.11% | 0.45% | 3.05% | 2.82% | 0% | 0% | 33.9% | +/-4.5 | 450 | ||||||
| Clout Research/Zpolitics February 17-18, 2017 | 31.7% | 24.9% | 10.6% | 9.2% | 2.0% | 1.2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 20.4% | +/-3.7 | 694 | ||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected] | |||||||||||||||||||
Campaign themes
2017
The following issues were listed on Edwards' campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Ragin Edwards' campaign website | ||
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2018
- Georgia House of Representatives
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ragin Edwards for Congress, "Home," accessed February 10, 2017
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Spending in Georgia Sixth race pushes past $50 million," June 19, 2017
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Ossoff raises another $15M in Georgia 6th, setting new fundraising record," June 8, 2017
- ↑ The New York Times, "Ossoff Raises $23 Million in Most Expensive House Race in History," June 9, 2017
- ↑ CNN, "Democrat Narrowly Loses in Georgia; Interview with DNC Chair Tom Perez; Republican Wake-Up Call in Georgia; Hernandez Commits Suicide in Prison; Boxer Finds New Fight; Georgia Special Election," April 19, 2017
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections presents the 2016 presidential election results by congressional district," January 30, 2017
- ↑ Vox, "Georgia Dems normally raise $10,000 for this House seat. This April they’ll have $3 million." March 27, 2017
- ↑ New Republic, "The Enduring Mystery of Jon Ossoff," June 12, 2017
- ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Enthusiastic or wary, Georgia Republicans come to terms with Trump," June 3, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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