Jon Ossoff, best known for losing the most expensive House race in history, won the Georgia Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday, Politico reports.
In a race marred by hours-long lines, malfunctioning machines, and mass confusion, Ossoff won with about 51% of the vote, avoiding a runoff. The next closest rival was former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, who received 15%.
Ossoff briefly became a national name in 2017 when he ran against Republican Karen Handel. Ossoff led the special election with 48% of the vote but narrowly lost to Handel in a runoff two months later.
Voting under investigation:
Numerous investigations have been launched into the voting issues that plagued Tuesday’s primary.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, announced that the Governmental Affairs Committee will lead the investigation into "irregularities in today's primary election across Georgia, particulary in Fulton County."
“We are hearing anecdotes from around the state – particularly in Fulton County – this morning of unacceptable deficiencies: poll workers not being properly trained, voting equipment not working and absentee ballots not being received among other issues," he said.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also launched an investigation into problems in Fulton and DeKalb counties.
The problems came after Georgia introduced new voting machines and delayed the primary twice - once from March 24 to May 19 and then again to June 9.
Perdue has big money lead:
Incumbent Republican Sen. David Perdue is not a major name but he begins his race with a massive money lead.
Perdue has $9.4 million in the bank while Ossoff has just $950,000 after outraising his rivals thanks to his extensive small-dollar donor list from his 2017 run.
No party has bought ad time and no outside groups have spent much money in the state, which will also feature a special election for Sen. Kelly Loeffler’s seat.
