President Donald Trump on Monday morning weighed in on the special election to fill an open House seat in Georgia by criticizing the leading Democratic candidate as “super liberal.”
The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017
The special election takes place on Tuesday.
Democrat Jon Ossoff has been leading the polls for the 18-candidate race to fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. Democrats have been hopeful that they can channel anti-Trump fervor into a win, especially given that Trump only won the district by one point in the November election.
The race will function as a jungle primary, with all candidates regardless of party competing on one ballot. If no one candidate clears 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers will head to a run-off in June.
Ossoff responded to Trump’s “misinformed” tweet in a Monday morning statement.
“While I’m glad the President is interested in the race, he is misinformed,” he said in a statement. “I’m focused on bringing fresh leadership, accountability, and bipartisan problem solving to Washington to cut wasteful spending and grow metro Atlanta’s economy into the Silicon Valley of the South.”
