Thomas Jonathan "Jon" Ossoff (16 February 1987-) was a US Senator from Georgia from 20 January 2021, succeeding David Perdue. Formerly a filmmaker and congressional aide, he was the Democratic candidate during the Georgia 6th congressional district special election in 2017. He narrowly lost with 48.22% of the vote, but the publicity generated by the high-stakes race later helped his successful Senate bid. Ossoff was the first Jewish senator from Georgia, the first Jewish senator from the American South since Benjamin F. Jonas in 1879, the first Georgia Democrat elected to a full Senate term since Max Cleland in 1998, and the first millennial Senator.
Biography[]
Ossoff in 2017
Thomas Jonathan Ossoff was born in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on 16 February 1987, the son of a Jewish father and an Australian immigrant mother. Ossoff earned a bachelor's degree in the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 2009, and he earned his Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in 2013. Ossoff became a national security staffer and an aide to representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), and he later became CEO of Insight TWI and a documentary film producer. In 2017, he ran as the Democratic Party's candidate during the special election in the 6th congressional district of Georgia, running against Republican Party candidate Karen Handel. He beat all rival candidates in the polls, and early polls showed him winning with 73% of the vote. However, he lost the election with 48.22% of the vote, and Handel became the new congresswoman. In 2020, Ossoff decided to run for US Senate and challenge the Republiacn incumbent David Perdue, and polls in March and May 2020 projected Ossoff narrowly defeating Perdue in a Republican-leaning election. He ultimately defeated Perdue in a hotly-contested runoff on 5 January 2021, claiming victory the next morning.