Georgia on his mind

Cut the Ray Charles music.

President Trump has Georgia on his mind.

The Tweeter-in-chief is declaring victory in that special election race to fill the congressional seat vacated by Tom Price, who joined Trump's cabinet as Secretary of Health.

The race was seen as an early test of the Trump presidency, just 90 days into his first term.

There was a ton of hype surrounding the possibility of Democratic newcomer Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional staffer. If Ossoff had been able to capture 50 percent of the vote, he would have won the seat in what has traditionally been a solid red, conservative Republican district.

Didn't happen.

Ossoff fell a few points shy and now will go to a runoff against the top Republican vote-getter, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. They were the top two finishers in a field crammed with 18 candidates.

Democrats are crowing that this near-victory in what has been solid Republican turf for decades - Price won 62 percent of the vote here in November - is a sign of growing disenchantment with Trump.

The president is claiming victory, saying Ossoff failed to win the seat outright and will fall against Handel in the June 20 runoff.

Make no mistake, Trump's name was not on the ballot in Georgia, but the vote was all about him.

Almost makes you look forward to our next congressional election in these parts, looming out there in November 2018. Three Democrats already are lined up to challenge Pat Meehan. It will be interesting to see how much support Meehan wants - or gets - from a White House he clearly has serious disagreements with on key issues. Remember, Meehan was one of the few who asked Trump to step down after that video of him disparaging women surfaced.

For now all we have to look forward to is a fairly routine Primary election on May 16, where parties will fill their slates for County Council, county row offices, along with municipal, school board and magisterial district judge races.

Maybe we should pumping in the Ray Charles music to Delco to liven up these races.

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