After defeating Jon Ossof in the most expensive House race in U.S. history, Karen Handel is attempting to defeat Lucy McBath.
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Rep. Lucy McBath and former congresswoman Karen Handel are set for a November re-match in Georgia's 6th congressional district. The district includes suburbs in northern Atlanta and portions of DeKalb, Fulton, and Cobb Counties.
Handel narrowly lost the Republican primary election for Governor in 2010 as she was bashed by her opponent for being too soft-handed on abortion and gay rights. After her defeat in the primary, Handel worked for Susan G. Komen, a breast cancer organization, but was removed after pushing for the company to cease any financial support for Planned Parenthood.
After losing her son to gun violence in 2012, McBath became a gun control activist and decided to run for Congress after the mass shooting of a high school in Parkland, Florida. She was the first non-white congressperson to represent Georgia's 6th congressional district.
Georgia's 6th congressional district is comprised of the affluent northern suburbs of Atlanta and portions of DeKalb, Fulton, and Cobb Counties.
The district was once represented by former House speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who held the position for 20 years, and is now rapidly trending in Democrats' direction as suburban and college-educated voters turn away from the GOP over their dislike of Trump.
While Mitt Romney easily carried the 6th district by over 23 percentage points in 2012, Trump carried it by just 1.5 points in 2016, and Stacey Abrams carried the district by over three points in her 2018 gubernatorial campaign, according to the Daily Kos.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, incumbent McBath has raised over $5.1 million and has $3.8 million in cash on hand. Her opponent, Handel, has raised less than half of that, $1.9 million, and has only $1.2 million on hand.
In her 2017 special election race against Jon Ossof, Handel raised $8.7 million as she bested her opponent who outraised her by $22 million.
The race between McBath and Handel is rated as tilting Democratic by Inside Elections and leaning Democratic by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics and the Cook Political Report.
