Here's some more embarrassing stats for Jon Ossoff, the loser in Tuesday's special election in Georgia's 6th district: despite the fact that this was the most expensive House election of all time, he received fewer votes than Rodney Stooksbury, the Democrat who ran for the seat in November 2016.
And how much did Stooksbury spend? Zero dollars.
The vote totals were pointed out by the Atlanta Journal-Constitutions's Kyle Wingfield. Ossoff received 24 fewer votes than Stooksbury, despite the clear monetary advantage.
Nov. 2016: Rodney Stooksbury (D) spends $0, wins 124,917 votes in #GA6
— Kyle Wingfield AJC (@kwingfieldajc) June 21, 2017
June 2017: Jon Ossoff (D) spends $23M+, wins 124,893.
I know, I know: Presidential elex vs. special (albeit a special w/ 58% turnout). But within 24 votes of same total? #ceiling
— Kyle Wingfield AJC (@kwingfieldajc) June 21, 2017
Also: #damn
Granted, Tom Price (who was the former representative until he was picked by President Trump to be the new Secretary of Health and Human Services), won the district by over 20 points, and the Democrats didn't even bother to filed a candidate for the district in 2010 or 2004. Still, both Trump and Clinton were relatively unpopular in November 2016, and Trump barely eked out a win in the district. While it was always going to be unlikely that Ossoff could pull it off, to receive even fewer votes than a candidate who spent nothing is...embarrassing, if nothing else.
While the election was basically portrayed as a referendum on Trump, it looks more as though it was a complete waste of money for everyone involved. Money can't buy everything, apparently.
