Politics

Hollywood Celebrities Come Out For Ossoff In Georgia’s Special Election

Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff

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Ted Goodman Contributor
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Hollywood celebrities have turned their attention to Georgia, where a 30-year-old documentary film producer running as a Democrat is attempting to wrestle away a historically Republican district.

Eighteen candidates are running to replace former Republican Rep. Tom Price, who accepted President Donald Trump’s offer to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

While four Republican candidates have emerged as potential contenders, Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old film producer and former congressional staffer, has quickly risen to be the national Democrat Party’s candidate to win Georgia’s 6th congressional district. (RELATED: Voting Machines Stolen In Atlanta Just Before Special Election)

A-list celebrity Samuel L. Jackson asked Georgia voters to “stop Donald Trump,” in a minute-long radio ad that has been playing in the northern Atlanta suburbs leading up to Tuesday’s vote.

“Stop Donald Trump, the man who encourages racial and religious discrimination and sexism,” Jackson said in the ad paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

WATCH:

A handful of other celebrities also endorsed Ossoff via Twitter.

Actress Alyssa Milano took to Twitter, reminding her 3.1 million followers that “today is the day” to “flip the 6th.”

Go out and vote your Ossoff in GA 6th! https://t.co/KC15JgFS0z

Comedian Chelsea Handler mistakenly thought that Georgia’s special election was April 11, telling her 7 million Twitter followers to vote for Ossoff last Tuesday, one week before the actual election.

Handler was sure to remind her followers living in Georgia’s sixth to vote on the correct day.

Milano has continued to tweet throughout the day, including retweets from the Ossoff campaign.

The president tweeted about the race Tuesday morning, calling Ossoff a “disaster.”

Actress and political activist Jane Fonda has donated to Ossoff, as did actors Sam Waterston, Kristen Bell, Connie Britton, Jessica Lange, Lynda Carter and Rhea Perlmam, according to Federal Election Commission reports.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the total vote Tuesday (Ossoff has been polling between 41-45 percent), the top two candidates will compete in a run-off scheduled for June 20.

Ossoff managed to raise a record $8.3 million in the first quarter of 2017, outpacing his closest rival by 18-fold. While Ossoff enjoys support across the Democratic political spectrum, Republican voters are split among a plethora of candidates, four of whom are predicted to compete for second place.

While the Georgia 6th district only supported Trump just narrowly over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, Price won the district by 23 percentage points.

Businessman and local councilman Bob Gray has emerged as a potential June challenger to Ossoff, while former Republican secretary of state Karen Handel fights to make it to the run-off as well. (RELATED: New GOP Frontrunner In Georgia)

State Senators’ Judson Hill and Dan Moody have polled well in recent months, and Hill hopes a last-minute robo-call from U.S. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is enough to get him into a June run-off.

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