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As Ossoff Surges in Polls, Handel Continues to Dodge Voters

As Ossoff Surges in Polls, Handel Continues to Dodge Voters

Handel’s embrace of Trump and Pence are dragging down her support

 

Atlanta, GA – A poll commissioned by 11Alive shows Jon Ossoff surging past Karen Handel in the special election runoff in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District.

 

 

From 11Alive – In a new 11Alive exclusive poll conducted by Survey USA, Democrat Jon Ossoff leads the race 51 percent, compared to Karen Handel’s 44 percent. Six percent of voters remain undecided.

The 7 percent lead is beyond the +/- margin of error of 4.3 percent, but “close enough in a low-turnout, stand-alone runoff to be anyone’s call, though clearly Ossoff is in a better position than Handel,” Survey USA analysts concluded.

 

The poll brings more even more bad news for Karen Handel, who has aligned herself with Donald Trump. More than half of respondents have an unfavorable view of Trump, a plurality disapprove of Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, and 60 percent believe a special investigator should be named to look into Russian interference in America’s elections. Handel will also campaign with Vice President Mike Pence on June 9th.

 

To date, Karen Handel has only agreed to appear at a single debate, recently declining a Dunwoody community debate after learning it would be open to the public.

 

 

 

With GOP Cavalry Descending on Georgia, Karen Handel Must Own Devastating Cuts to Medicare

Release:  Tuesday, April 25, 2017                                                                            

Atlanta, GA – After a humiliating show at the polls on April 18, career politician Karen Handel is calling on the GOP political cavalry to fabricate enthusiasm for the perpetual candidate ahead of the June runoff. Handel limped to the runoff with an embarrassing 19.78% of votes cast, despite being well known, close to 30% (54,397 votes) behind Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff.

Handel’s distress signal has been answered by fellow career politician House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is notorious for his reckless and cold-hearted plan to end the Medicare guarantee for senior citizens. Ryan’s intervention in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District race follows the massive defeat of his attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act.

“Career politician Karen Handel has made clear she will not be an independent voice for the district and supports Speaker Ryan’s ideological plan to turn Medicare into a voucher program and cut Medicaid. In her blind personal quest to hold office, it is troubling that Handel apparently has no issue ending the Medicare guarantee for Georgia’s seniors, or cutting services to nursing homes.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director

The GOP’s plan to replace essential health care programs with voucher programs would be devastating to Georgia families. 1,782,301Georgians (17% of the population) are enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP programs. 1,253,841 children and 137,671 seniors and people with disabilities are covered by Medicaid and Medicare programs.

The consequences for Georgia’s seniors are staggering. Per the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:  “An overwhelming majority of Medicare beneficiaries who live in nursing homes rely on Medicaid for their nursing home coverage.  Because the Ryan plan would require such deep cuts in federal Medicaid funding, it would inevitably result in less coverage for nursing home residents and shift more of the cost of nursing home care to elderly beneficiaries and their families.  A sharp reduction in the quality of nursing home care would be virtually inevitable, due to the large reduction that would occur in the resources made available to pay for such care.”

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Background

PPP – Democrats Have Big Enthusiasm Edge for 2018

-The strong early numbers for Democrats in the 2018 Congressional picture aren’t just a function of Trump’s unpopularity. Both Paul Ryan (30/53 approval) and Mitch McConnell (24/48) are very unpopular on the national scene as well. Overall Congress has just an 18% approval rating, with 65% of voters disapproving of it.

–One issue that particularly sunk Ryan’s numbers was health care, and we continue to find less and less resistance to just keeping the Affordable Care Act. We find 47% support for it on this poll, but more notable than that we find the level of opposition to it down to only 31%. Even among Republican voters there’s now barely a majority- 51%- that expresses opposition to the ACA. Just 30% of voters want to repeal it, compared to 62% who say the best path forward is to keep what works in it and fix what doesn’t.

Census.gov

Medicaid.gov

DPG Congratulates Jon Ossoff on Resounding Win in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District

Release:  Wednesday, April 19, 2017         

Atlanta, GA – Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter issued the following statement on Jon Ossoff’s victory and what’s next for Georgia Democrats in the 6th Congressional District.

“Congratulations to Jon Ossoff for an awe-inspiring victory. Jon ignored the hype and rhetoric, and focused on the best interests and promise of the 6th. He proved that you can run a substantive, issues-based campaign and not only come out on top, but bottle lightening to unite both first-time and longtime grassroots activists around shared values. Thank you to every single volunteer who knocked on doors, made calls, stuffed envelops and so much more to get us this far. Now it’s time to buckle down, push forward, and flip the sixth.”

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