The special election that has consumed the country’s attention—and cost more than any House election in history—is finally here. Two months ago, the first round of voting sent Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel to a runoff for the congressional seat in Georgia’s 6th District. Polls have shown a close race as Democrats have staked their hopes on Ossoff to flip a Republican-held district for the first time under President Donald Trump. An Ossoff win would “carry a symbolic punch” as a rebuke of the president and an omen of things to come in the 2018 midterm elections.
The polls have just closed, and thanks to our friends at Decision Desk HQ, you can watch the results come in live right here:
Polls have also closed in South Carolina’s 5th District, where a special congressional election will determine who will succeed Mick Mulvaney following his appointment as director of the Office of Management and Budget in February. Republican Ralph Norman, a former state representative, is facing off against Democrat Archie Parnell, a former Goldman Sachs banker whose ad campaign has alluded to the fictional Frank Underwood, who represented the district in House of Cards. Norman is expected to win the district, which has been a Republican stronghold since a 2010 redrawing of district boundaries. Charleston’s Post and Courier reports that turnout for the election has been low, but, as in the Georgia race, the margin between Norman and Parnell could give a preview of both parties’ performance in the 2018 midterms.
Here are the live results from the South Carolina race: