Democrat Jon Ossoff said Tuesday that he believes voters in Georgia's sixth congressional district do not care that he does not live in the district he is running to represent, dismissing questions on his residency.
Ossoff's residency has been a persistent problem for him during his special election campaign to fill Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price's vacant House seat. The Georgia Democrat lives a two-hour walk away from the sixth district, so that his fiancée can walk to her medical school classes.
The question of where he lives came up again when Ossoff appeared on MSNBC. Host Stephanie Ruhle asked why, in such a close race, Ossoff has not made a greater effort to address his residency outside of the district.
"Voters just aren't asking me this question," Ossoff responded.
"Folks here in Georgia's sixth district care about how their representation is going to impact their daily lives," he added.
"I grew up in this community. As you mentioned, I live a couple of miles down the road to support my fiancée while she finishes medical school," Ossoff said. "I'm running to serve my home town in Congress, and I want to make them proud."
Ruhle pushed Ossoff on why he would not address the issue in such a tight race.
"Since the special election, where you were at 48.1 [percent], things have only moved to 48.8, with 50 million bucks under your belt. Voters care about a lot. If you look back on this and things are that tight, wouldn't you say to yourself, just get an apartment in the district?" Ruhle asked.
"If voters were raising that as a serious concern, Steph, maybe I would," Ossoff said.
"But voters care about how policy and about how representation is going to impact their daily lives," he continued. "They know I grew up in this community. They know I grew up in the sixth district. They know why I'm a couple of miles south of the line. It's just not a major issue in the race."
Because he lives outside of the district, Ossoff cannot vote for himself on Tuesday in his congressional bid against Republican Karen Handel.