Georgia’s 6th congressional district special election, 2017

Jon Ossoff and his fiance, Alisha Kramer, campaigned during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 1600, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]

Covering a political campaign

If you are going to take pictures and use them to help inform people about politics, then you need to know what is going on in politics. I am biased about politics when I am posting on my blog. So this is more editorial view than journalistic. Last night I met Jon Ossoff in person, and this is just me sharing my photos. However, how I approached the shoot was influenced a lot by my views.

I live in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, where the biggest race occurs. Most multiple meaning the most money ever spent on a congressional seat in the history of the United States.

The total cost of the race now exceeds $30 million, quickly making it the most expensive U.S. House contest on record. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the previous record was a 2012 Florida contest that cost nearly $29.6 million.

A special election will be held on June 20, 2017, to determine the United States House of Representatives member for Georgia’s 6th congressional district. Republican Incumbent Tom Price resigned from the seat following his appointment and confirmation as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration. A primary election occurred on April 18, 2017.

Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel are running for office.

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution just reported:

More than 5,500 voters have been added to the rolls in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District after a federal judge ordered local counties to reopen registration this past Sunday.

The total includes two types of voters: the newly registered plus so-called “transfer” applications — already registered Georgia voters who initially moved into the district after March 20, when the registration period closed.

Jon Ossoff campaigned during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 28800, ƒ/4, 1/100]

A new poll shows Democrat Jon Ossoff with a 7-point lead against Republican Karen Handel ahead of the runoff election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.

Of the 700 voters interviewed in the SurveyUSA poll conducted for Atlanta TV station WXIA, Ossoff leads with 51 percent compared to Handel’s 44 percent. Six percent of respondents were undecided, and the margin of error was 4.3 percent.

Newt Gingrich was the turning point for this seat from Democrat to Republican back in 1978. He held that seat until 1998. Johnny Isakson and then Tom Price followed him.

Jon Ossoff and his finance, Alisha Kramer, campaigned during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 2500, ƒ/5.6, 1/100]

The election to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price could be Democrats’ best opportunity until the 2018 elections to demonstrate that their base’s anti-Trump movement can be weaponized to kick Republicans out of office — maybe even to take back the House of Representatives for the first time since 2010.

The election’s frontrunner, Democrat Jon Ossoff, has capitalized on the anti-Trump sentiment. “Donald Trump is an embarrassment and a threat to prosperity and health, justice, and security in the Sixth District,” Ossoff has said. “I’m running to stop him and to fight for our community in Congress.”

Jon Ossoff is swarmed by his fans while campaigning during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 4500, ƒ/8, 1/100]

I believe the key to understanding why political unknown Jon Ossoff has risen to the top is the problems with Republicans. The race has exposed stark divides between the Republicans over health care, tax overhauls, and foreign policy.

I believe the influence of fundamentalist Christians in the Republican party hurt the party. In response, some Christians started to oppose their views.

The Chicago Declaration of Evangelical Social Concern began with a confession that evangelicals had failed to defend the rights of the poor and oppressed and had been complicit in racism. It attacked the unjust distribution of the nation’s wealth, the “pathology of war and violence,” sexism, and the “the temptation to make the nation and its institution’s objects of near-religious loyalty.”

FitzGerald, Frances (2017-04-04). The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America (Kindle Locations 4432-4435). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

Jon Ossoff is swarmed by his fans while campaigning during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 2200, ƒ/4, 1/100]

I am seeing the most significant growth in America as what is called “Nones.” Here from Wikipedia:

Americans without a religious affiliation represent about 20% or more of the population, and since the early 1990s, independent polls have shown their rapid growth. They include agnostics, atheists, deists,[e] secular humanists, and general secularists.

Unaffiliated Americans are sometimes referred to as “Nones.” Though having no religion and not seeking faith, they have diverse views: 68% believe in God, 12% are atheists, and 17% are agnostics; in terms of self-identification of religiosity, 18% consider themselves religious, 37% consider themselves as spiritual but not religious, and 42% considers themselves as neither spiritual nor religious; and 21% pray every day and 20% pray once a month. According to the 2008 ARIS, the Nones have diverse beliefs: 7% were atheists, 35% were agnostics, 24% were deists, and 27% were theists.

Jon Ossoff is swarmed by his fans while campaigning during the event held at Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 1400, ƒ/4, 1/100]

This shift and the Republican Party that catered so much to the “Moral Majority” has found their base has left them.

Top voting issues in 2016 election

I believe the shift isn’t away from the faith but a shift to what I think Jesus taught his disciples.

John 13:34-35

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I believe that the Christian right has been wrong for a long time. They are condemning people as the Pharisees did in the time of Jesus.

Mark 2:14-16

14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

People today are concerned about how to live within the community. They need jobs and the burdens of medical care and taxes controlled. They are worried about not being persecuted. They want leaders who will help level the playing field so that we are all treated equally in the eyes of the law.

Chelle Leary, Jon Ossoff, his fiance, Alisha Kramer, and Wendy Hoback campaigned during the Hugo’s Oyster Bar in Roswell, GA, on May 23, 2017. [Nikon D5, Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4, ISO 2200, ƒ/8, 1/100]