6th District: Turnout was mighty

Supporters of Democratic candidate for Georgia's Sixth Congressional Seat Jon Ossoff, who is running to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Price, react to polling results during an election party, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Atlanta.  BRANDEN CAMP/SPECIAL

Credit: Branden Camp

Credit: Branden Camp

Supporters of Democratic candidate for Georgia's Sixth Congressional Seat Jon Ossoff, who is running to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom Price, react to polling results during an election party, Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Atlanta. BRANDEN CAMP/SPECIAL

Georgia’s 6th District voters put the “special” in special election.

According to unofficial results, more than 192,000 votes were cast in Tuesday’s congressional election in parts of Cobb, DeKalb and Fulton counties.

Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel finished first and second, respectively, and will face-off again in a June runoff.

While both campaigns, and their friendswill work to drive voters back to the polls, matching Tuesday's results will be quite a feat.

According to an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the 192,084 votes cast in Tuesday’s election is the highest for a primary in the district since at least 2012.

The closest any primary came to matching Tuesday was the 2016 presidential primary, when 171,000 votes were cast in the 6th District.

Tuesdays’ total, however, was far short of this past November’s general election, when more than 333,000 ballots were cast in the district.

Only 51,000 voters participated in the 2016 primary for the 6th District itself, when then-Rep. Tom Price was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Price, of course, resigned earlier this year to become President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services secretary, a move that led to Tuesday's 18-candidate mashup.

Kyle Wingfield contributed to this report.