Posted June 21, 2017 | by Brock Zeman | in DemDaily, Resource

DemDaily: Something Special

June 21, 2017

Jon Ossoff after learning of the results last night

Republicans added two victories to their 2017 election count last night, with wins in both the Georgia 6th and South Carolina 5th Congressional District Special Elections.

The southern seats are two of six Congressional special elections this year, including five traditionally Republican seats vacated by Members to join the Trump administration.

In the five contests to-date, Republicans have held onto four, and the fifth, historically progressive seat, stayed in the Democratic column.

On the face, it is a wash for both parties with no gains for either going into the 2018 elections - but the breakdown on the numbers for each race still paints a positive picture for Dems, who came within 7% points of winning in three states where Trump beat Clinton last November by 18+%.

Georgia 6th
In Georgia's 6th Congressional District, which will go down as the most expensive Congressional election in history, Democrat John Ossoff lost to Republican Karen Handel 48.1% to 51.9% in a seat where Trump beat Clinton 48% to 47%.

The race, which had Ossoff and Handel in a dead-heat through the final five weeks of the campaign, was Democrat's greatest hope for a flip this year.

South Carolina 5th
Likewise, in South Carolina's special election, where Trump delivered a 57%-39% victory, Democrat Archie Parnell lost to Republican Ralph Norman by just 4%.

Dr. Kathie Allen, the Democratic nominee for Utah's 3rd CD

That leaves two remaining special elections in 2017: Utah's 3rd CD and the Alabama US Senate seat.

The Utah Democrat and Republican parties held their party conventions June 17th, nominating physician Dr. Kathie Allen (D) and former Utah State Representative Christopher Herrod (R) as their annointed nominees. The two will still have to face other qualifying candidates, including two Republicans, and five independent/unaffiliateds in the official August 15th primary.

The primary election for Alabama's US Senate seat, left vacant by now-US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will be held August 15th, with the general election December 12th. Former Alabama State Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed by Governor Robert Bentley as interim Senator until the election is decided.

2017 Special Elections Results

Office	Incumbent	Special Election Date	Democratic Candidate	Republican Candidate	Presidential % in CD	Special Election Results	Party Control
US Congress: Kansas 4th District	Mike Pompeo, now serves as CIA Director	General: April 11	James Thompson	Ron Estes	Clinton 33% Trump 60%	Thompson 45.7%- Estes 52.5%	Stayed the Same
US Congress: Montana At Large seat	Ryan Zinke, now serves as Secretary of the Interior	General: May 25	Rob Quist	Greg Gianforte	Clinton 36% Trump 57%	Quist 44.4% - Gianforte 50%	Stayed the Same
US Congress: California 34th District	Xavier Becerra, now serves as California Atty General	General: June 6	Jimmy Gomez v Robert Lee Ahn	none	Clinton 83% Trump 11%	Gomez 60.1% - Ahn 39.9%	Stayed the Same
US Congress: Georgia 6th District	Tom Price, now serves as Secretary of Health and Human Services	Runoff: June 20	Jon Ossoff	Karen Handel	Clinton 47% Trump 48%	Ossoff 48.1% - Handel 51.9%	Stayed the Same
US Congress: South Carolina 5th District	Mick Mulvaney, now serves as Director, Office of Management & Budget	General: June 20	Archie Parnell	Ralph Norman	Clinton 39% Trump 57%	Parnell 47.9% - Norman 51.1%	Stayed the Same

2017 Remaining Special Elections

Office	Incumbent	Special Election Date	Democratic Candidate	Republican Candidate	Presidential % in CD
US Congress: Utah 3rd District	Jason Chaffetz, Resigned	Primary: August 15 General: November 7	Dr. Kathie Allen Independent American Party: Jason Christensen, Aaron Heineman Libertarian Party: Joe Buchman Unaffiliated: Jim Bennett Write-in: Russell Roesler	Christopher Herrod, Tanner Ainge, John Curtis	Clinton 23% Trump 47%
US Senate: Alabama	Jeff Sessions, now serves as US Attorney General	Primary: August 15 General: December 12	Will Boyd, Vann Caldwell, Jason Fisher, Michael Hansen, Robert Kennedy Jr., Brian McGee, Nana Tchienkou, Doug Jones	Luther Strange, James Beretta, Joseph Berault, Randy Brinson, Dominic Gentile, Mary Maxwell, Roy Moore	Clinton 34% Trump 62%