Democrat Jon Ossoff wins primary, looks ahead to November race

ATLANTA - With the Democratic primary now in his rearview, Jon Ossoff said he has a lot of issues he plans to run on in November.

"The agenda that I humbly present to the people of Georgia is this: we will ensure that every single American has great healthcare and health insurance that they can afford," said Ossoff. "We will bring down the cost of prescription drugs by cracking down on pharmaceutical company price gouging. We will invest in our infrastructure and in clean energy. We will defend voting rights and equal justice under the law with a new Civil Rights Act and a new Voting Rights Act."

Ossoff beat out six other Democrats in the race, including former Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson and 2018 Lt. Governor candidate Sarah Riggs Amico.

"This is a really big deal," said Democratic Strategist and CEO of Paramount Consulting Group, Tharon Johnson. "For Jon Ossoff to win the U.S. Senate race during the Democratic primary without a runoff is really unbelievable. He was running against two really qualified candidates. Two women who had really spent a lot of money and a lot of time crisscrossing the State of Georgia."

ELECTION RESULTS: All Races 2020 Georgia Primary

Avoiding an August runoff, Johson said, means Ossoff can focus the next couple months on fundraising instead.

"It was a gamechanger," said Johson. "I know that he wanted to save a lot of the millions of dollars that he is going to be able to raise himself. It now allows him to go out across the nation to raise more money."

That is especially important at a time when large, in-person fundraisers and campaign events are not possible because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have thousands of volunteers who are making thousands of phone calls and sending thousands of text messages per day. Right now our priority through the summer is voter registration," Ossoff explained.

He and Republican opponent David Perdue have already zeroed in on each other.

A news release from the Perdue campaign labeled Ossoff as a "liberal elite."

"Georgia Democrats nominated a part-time filmmaker and liberal elite with zero real-world accomplishments as their party’s standard-bearer. Despite his privileged lifestyle funded with daddy's money, Jon Ossoff’s only notable achievement is spending millions of dollars on his failed Congressional bid,” said Perdue for Senate Campaign Manager Ben Fry.

Ossoff fought back, calling Perdue the "poster boy for corruption in Washington."

"The GOP is not very creative with these attacks," said Ossoff. "Sen. Perdue has nothing to run on. What's he going to run on? An economy in recession, a pandemic that was denied and ignored by the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress? His lack of integrity demonstrated by his decision to trade stocks on a pandemic instead of preparing the public?"

Even President Donald Trump weighed in on the race Thursday, tweeting that Ossoff is a "radical liberal."