Following the recent poll giving Democrat Jon Ossoff a 7 point lead over Republican Karen Handel in the upcoming GA-06 special election, the TV station in Atlanta that commissioned the survey has dug into the numbers and is reporting some terrific news for Ossoff: his support among independent and moderate voters is soaring.
The divided 6th District reflects our divided state. Our latest poll shows that Republicans are almost certain to vote for Karen Handel, Democrats likewise for Jon Ossoff.
But while our state traditionally gets more turnout from Republicans, the district is closer to an even split. That makes independents and moderates crucial -- and on that front, our poll is great news for Ossoff.
How great? Pretty darn great.
Independents in Georgia favored Trump by 17 percentage points. Independents in the 6th District prefer Ossoff by 20 [57% to 37%].
What about those who identify as moderates? In the 2016 Presidential race, they favored Clinton by 17 percentage points.
Now, in the 6th District, they favor Ossoff by 47 percentage points [69% to 22%].
Granted, they are comparing statewide figures (from the last poll before the 2016 election) to results from just the 6th district, which the article acknowledges. But in a Republican-leaning district that Trump carried by only 1.5 points, strong support from independents and moderates will be critically important to Ossoff (along with superior GOTV among Democrats.)
Ossoff support is promising among other demographic groups, too.
With income, voters making between $40,000 and $80,000 a year went hard for Trump -- a 22-point lead. Those voters made up their [sic] core of his lead over Clinton.
This time, in the 6th District, they flipped to Ossoff by 5 points.
It would be great, of course, to be able to do a more direct comparison within the district. Nevertheless,
[T]he comparison shows why Ossoff has a shot at painting a blue district in a traditionally red state.
The moderate vote matters more in the 6th, and Ossoff is doing far better among them than Democrats typically do in Georgia.
Jon Ossoff for Congress
Momentum!!