June 20, 2017, Atlanta: Karen Handel makes a heart symbol while making an early appearance to thank her supporters after the first returns came in during her election night party in the 6th District race with Jon Ossoff on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, in Atlanta. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
June 20, 2017, Atlanta: Karen Handel makes a heart symbol while making an early appearance to thank her supporters after the first returns came in during her election night party in the 6th District race with Jon Ossoff on Tuesday, June 20, 2017, in Atlanta. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com Credit: ap/Atlanta Journal-Constitution — Curtis Compton

Dunwoody, Ga. — Republican Karen Handel has won a nationally watched congressional election in Georgia, avoiding an upset that would have rocked Washington ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Incomplete returns show Handel winning almost 53 percent of the vote over Democrat Jon Ossoff, who won about just over 47 percent in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. That margin allows Republicans a sigh of relief after what’s being recognized as the most expensive House race in U.S history, with a price tag that may exceed $50 million.

Yet the result in a historically conservative district still offers Republicans a warning that President Donald Trump’s tenuous standing will dominate the looming campaign cycle. Georgia’s outcome follows similar results in Montana, Kansas and South Carolina, where Republicans won special House races by much narrower margins than they managed as recently as November.

Republicans immediately crowed over winning a seat that Democrats spent $30 million trying to flip. “Democrats from coast to coast threw everything they had at this race, and Karen would not be defeated,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement.

Democrats still must flip 24 GOP-held seats to regain a House majority next November. Party leaders profess encouragement from the trends, but the latest losses mean they will have to rally donors and volunteers after a tough stretch of special elections.

Handel, 55, becomes the latest in a line of Republicans who have represented the district since 1979, beginning with Newt Gingrich, who would become House speaker. Most recently, Tom Price resigned the post in February to join Trump’s administration as health and human services secretary.

The president himself struggled here, though, edging Democrat Hillary Clinton but falling short of a majority among an affluent, well-educated electorate that typically has given Republican nominees better than 60 percent of the vote.

“This is such an important election because of what goes on in D.C.,” said Tom Greathouse, 52, a business owner who supported Handel. He added that there’s been “a ton of emotion” in a district used to watching Republicans coast.

Pro-Republican Wins S.C. House Seat

Columbia, S.C. — Republican Ralph Norman won a special election Tuesday to fill the South Carolina congressional seat vacated by Mick Mulvaney, battling to a victory closer than many expected to replace the new White House budget director.

“It’s a good win, and we’re excited,” Norman, a real estate developer who aligned himself with President Donald Trump, told The Associated Press. “We’re looking forward to getting to work in Washington.”

Norman, who celebrated his 64th birthday on election night, defeated Democrat Archie Parnell with 51 percent of the vote, with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Parnell had roughly 48 percent of the vote.

Three third-party candidates also waged campaigns.