--- title: Jon Ossoff Polls: Georgia Special Election Tuesday description: A special election in Georgia has become a national referendum on Trump, but Jon Ossoff rarely even mentions the President's name. canonical: https://time.com/4743372/jon-ossoff-polls-georgia-special-election/ author: Alex Altman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-18T01:52:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:16.090Z article:section: Politics og:title: He’s a Democratic Party Sensation. But He Barely Mentions Donald Trump og:description: In a race that's become a national referendum on Trump. og:url: https://time.com/4743372/jon-ossoff-polls-georgia-special-election/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted49d0a07a99f7d6/6988c28b656a3f845dbcf865/jon-ossoff-young-generation-democratic-candidates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Jon-Ossoff-young-generation-Democratic-candidates og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: He’s a Democratic Party Sensation. But He Barely Mentions Donald Trump twitter:description: In a race that's become a national referendum on Trump. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blted49d0a07a99f7d6/6988c28b656a3f845dbcf865/jon-ossoff-young-generation-democratic-candidates.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # He’s a Democratic Party Sensation. He Barely Mentions Donald Trump > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Representative Tom Price Faces Senate Confirmation Hearing [Watch (HLS stream): Representative Tom Price Faces Senate Confirmation Hearing](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/J6F4wcjt.m3u8) (2:13)  _Published 2017-01-18. Rep. Tom Price is facing pointed questions about President-elect Donald Trump’s health policies — and his own investments in health care companies — from senators considering his selection as health secretary._  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Apr 18, 2017 1:52 AM UTC  Jon Ossoff speaks to a group of college Democrats at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta on April 5, 2017. Jon Ossoff speaks to a group of college Democrats at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta on April 5, 2017. Benjamin Rasmussen for TIME  by [Alex Altman](https://time.com/author/alex-altman/)  ## Alex Altman Altman is the executive features editor and deputy Washington bureau chief at TIME. Apr 18, 2017 1:52 AM UTC If you were to hear that the national hopes of the Democratic Party currently rest on the shoulders of a 30-year-old rookie candidate in a Georgia congressional district the GOP has controlled for nearly four decades, you might assume the Democrats had fallen into a state of woeful disrepair. Yet [the rise of Jon Ossoff](http://time.com/4737967/new-generation-democratic-candidates/) is a clear sign of the momentum coursing through the party. In the first closely contested race of Donald Trump’s presidency, Ossoff is leading an 18-candidate field in Tuesday’s special election for the North Atlanta House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The documentary filmmaker has pulled in [$8.3 million](http://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/ossoff-raises-record-haul-race-for-georgia-6th-district/lp7riFF0englEieAGRnL0L/) in the space of a couple months—more than all but three House candidates raised in the entire two-year 2016 election cycle. Ossoff’s edge in the polls and massive fundraising haul look like spooky omens to some Republicans. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing,” says Chip Lake, a Georgia GOP strategist. “It’s mind-boggling. It certainly goes to show how unified the Democratic Party is against this President.” But if the race has become a national referendum on Trump, these days Ossoff rarely even mentions the President’s name. “There are clearly some national implications,” Ossoff conceded in a recent interview with TIME. “But that’s not what the campaign is about.” Which seems like a smart move. Georgia’s 6th district, a wealthy patch of suburbs perched atop Atlanta, isn’t exactly Trump country: the President won here by just a point despite little local investment by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. At the same time, it’s no liberal hotbed. Price, one of the most conservative members of Congress before joining the President’s cabinet, carried it in November by 23 points. And so the cautious and soft-spoken candidate has tuned his campaign pitch to a frequency he believes voters want to hear. Ossoff’s stump speech is stuffed with promises to bring new tech jobs to the area and restore accountability in Washington. He talks about working across party lines and governing from the center. Trump’s presence in the race hovers over it all; when Ossoff talks about “shared values” and “uniting people,” the juxtaposition with the divisive President is unmistakable. But ever since he first drew notice with a campaign pitch to “Make Trump Furious,” Ossoff has been disciplined about localizing the race. The centrist pitch hasn’t dissuaded the liberal Democrats who support him. “We didn’t ask Ossoff to fill out any kind of questionnaire, and we didn’t subject him to any ideological litmus test,” says David Nir, the political director at Daily Kos, whose readers have funneled more than $1.35 million to Ossoff. “Our community has responded so enthusiastically because this race is an opportunity to send a message to Republicans and to help provide a check on Trump.” At a campaign stop at Atlanta’s Oglethorpe University earlier this month, Ryan Holtzen, a 19-year-old English major, asked Ossoff why he doesn’t advertise his party affiliation in some campaign ads. Ossoff explained he was “building a coalition here around something that is bigger than party,” which is perhaps not the kind of thing that an anti-Trump Democrat would want to hear. But Holtzen seemed untroubled by the response. “I feel like a lot of people put too much emphasis on ideology,” he shrugged. Trump is certainly fixated on it. “The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal \[sic\] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!” the President [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/853964023846588420) on Monday. Whether Ossoff will win is an open question. Under Georgia rules, every candidate in the race runs on the same ballot, regardless of party. If none earns a majority, the top two finishers proceed to a June runoff. In the field of 11 Republicans, five Democrats and two independents, Ossoff is sitting in the [low-to-mid 40s](https://decisiondeskhq.com/news/four-more-polls-since-friday-find-ossoff-in-low-to-mid-forties-for-ga06/), according to recent polls. That’s more than enough to grab the top spot but not quite enough to clear the 50% threshold required to win the contest outright. “We’ll be ready for the runoff, but we’re going for the knockout,” Ossoff says. But Republicans say they are confident they can hold Ossoff under 50%. If that happens, they believe the party’s voters will coalesce behind Ossoff’s opponent to defeat the Democrat in June. “You might ask Senator Michelle Nunn how he will do,” former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented the 6th district for two decades, wrote in an email to TIME, referring to the 2014 Georgia Senate candidate—a ballyhooed recruit who drew oodles of fanfare before getting trounced on Election Day. ## Transcript The last thing we wanna do is go from a Democrat healthcare system to a Republican healthcare system. Our goal would be to go from a, what we see as a Democrat healthcare system to an American healthcare system that recognizes the needs of all. One of the important things that we need to convey to the American people is that nobody's interested in pulling a rug out from under anybody. We believe that it's absolutely imperative that individuals that have health coverage be able to keep health coverage, and move hopefully to greater choices and opportunities for them to gain the kind of coverage that they want for themselves and for their families. Is the president- elect, Mr. Trump, going to keep his word to the American people? And not cut social security, MediCare, and Medicaid or did he lie to the American people? I haven't had extensive discussions with him about the comments that he made. But I have no reason to believe that he's changed his position. I look forward to working with you to make certain that every single American has access to the highest quality care and coverage that is possible. As access to does not mean that they are guaranteed to. I have access to buying a $ 10 million home, I don't have the money to do that. And that's why we believe it's appropriate to put in a place a system that gives every person the financial feasibility. To be able to purchase the coverage that they want for themselves and for their family. Again, not what the government forces them to buy. Yep. How do you square reaping personal financial gain from the sales of an addictive product that kills millions of Americans every decade with also voting against measures to reduce the death toll inflicted by Tobacco. Well, it's an interesting question, Senator, and it's a curious observation. I have no idea what stocks I held in the 90s or the 2000s, or even now. All of these decisions for all of us, I suspect, are through mutual funds and through Through pension plans. I would bet and I don't want, well I ought not bet here, I would suspect that in your pension plan that there are components of that that are held that may have something to do in sometime in your history with tobacco. So- You know, I find it very hard to believe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4743372/jon-ossoff-polls-georgia-special-election/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4743372/jon-ossoff-polls-georgia-special-election/"},"headline":"He’s a Democratic Party Sensation. 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