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International desk: Republicans have won a closely contested congressional election in Georgia seen by many as a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency.<\/p>\nInternational desk: Republicans have won a closely contested congressional election in Georgia seen by many as a referendum on Donald Trump's presidency.<\/p>\n
Karen Handel retained the Atlanta seat for the Republicans with 53% of the vote, against 47% for her Democratic rival Jon Ossoff.<\/p>\n
House Speaker Paul Ryan congratulated Ms Handel on a “hard-earned” victory.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in South Carolina, Republican Ralph Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell in a solidly conservative area.<\/p>\n
President Trump congratulated both candidates.<\/p>\n
On the victory in suburban Atlanta, he tweeted: “Congratulations to Karen Handel on her big win in Georgia 6th. Fantastic job, we are all very proud of you!”<\/p>\n
Georgia's sixth district is a traditionally safe Republican seat but Democrats had hoped to capitalise on the president's low approval ratings.<\/p>\n
Spending on candidates was put at $56m (\u00a344m), making it the costliest congressional election in US history.<\/p>\n
Democrats have already suffered narrow defeats in Kansas and Montana this year.<\/p>\n
Addressing jubilant supporters, Ms Handel thanked key Republican figures, including President Trump.<\/p>\n
“I need to also thank Speaker Ryan and the House leadership and so many of the members across this country. And a special thanks to the President of the United States of America,” she said.<\/p>\n
Mr Ossoff told his supporters they had provided “a beacon of hope for people here in Georgia, for people across the country, and for people around the world”.<\/p>\n
He also said they should celebrate having turned a conservative stronghold into a competitive district.<\/p>\n
“We showed the world that in places where no-one thought it was even possible we could fight,” Mr Ossoff said.<\/p>\n
In April, he narrowly failed to win the 50% needed to secure outright victory in a first round, forcing the run-off against Ms Handel.<\/p>\n
She had come a distant second in the first round, but the Republican vote had been split among 11 candidates.<\/p>\n
Republicans believed the run-off would favour them in an affluent seat they have held since 1979.<\/p>\n
They also believed that last week's shooting of Republicans on a Virginia baseball field would count in their favour at the polls.<\/p>\n
The suspected gunman was a Democratic supporter and a Republican advert that sought to politicise the attack was condemned by Ms Handel.<\/p>\n
The Atlanta seat was made vacant when Congressman Tom Price left to join the Trump administration as health secretary.<\/p>\n
The South Carolina fifth-district seat, vacated when Mick Mulvaney became Mr Trump's budget director, had been expected to be an easy win for Republicans.<\/p>\n
The Republicans have so far staved off defeats by the Democrats this year.<\/p>\n
In April they narrowly defended a deeply conservative Kansas seat vacated when Mr Trump appointed Congressman Mike Pompeo to lead the CIA.<\/p>\n
Last month, Republican Greg Gianforte won a special congressional election in Montana, despite being charged with assaulting a UK reporter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
International desk: Republicans have won a closely contested congressional election in Georgia seen by many as a referendum on Donald Trump’s presidency. Karen Handel retained the Atlanta seat for the Republicans with 53% of the vote, against 47% for her Democratic rival Jon Ossoff. House Speaker Paul Ryan congratulated Ms Handel on a “hard-earned” victory. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":34256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n