Thomas Jonathan Ossoff (/ˈɒsɒf/ OSS-off; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021.

In 2017, he ran in the special election for Georgia's 6th congressional district, narrowly losing a seat that had long been considered a Republican stronghold.

Ossoff's election alongside Raphael Warnock was critical in securing a 50-50 Senate majority for Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.

[11][12] His ancestors fled pogroms in the early 20th century, and he noted in an interview that he grew up among Holocaust survivor relatives and detailed how this greatly influenced him and his worldviews.

[14][15][16] After receiving a recommendation from John Lewis, Ossoff worked as a national security staffer and legislative assistant for foreign affairs and defense policy for U.S. representative Hank Johnson from 2007 to 2012.

[23] After learning that Republican Tom Price of Georgia's 6th congressional district had been appointed secretary of health and human services by president-elect Donald Trump, Ossoff announced his candidacy for the special election on January 5, 2017.

[24] He was endorsed by congressmen Hank Johnson and John Lewis,[25][26] and state House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams.

[32] According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ossoff "transformed what was expected to be a quiet battle for a long-safe Republican seat into a proxy fight over Trump, the health care overhaul, and the partisan struggle for suburbia".

[33] Following reports of the election results, Frank Bruni, in an op-ed for The New York Times, characterized the race as "demoralizing for Democrats".

[64] Since no candidate received a majority of the vote on November 3, the top two finishers (Perdue and Ossoff) advanced to a January 5, 2021 runoff election.

[65][66] The closing argument of the Ossoff campaign focused on the $2,000 stimulus payments that he and Raphael Warnock would approve if they were to win their elections and give Democrats a majority in the Senate.

"[80] After Ossoff's petition, students were granted the ability to apply for federal financial aid by the Department of Education,[79] and the school regained accreditation in April 2022.

[82] 119th Congress[83] According to The New Yorker in 2017, Ossoff has "progressive positions on women's issues and health care" and "moderate stances on jobs and security".

[88] Matthew Yglesias of Vox called his 2017 run for office an "Obama-style campaign", placing himself in the middle between progressive and conservative members within the Democratic Party.

[89] According to The Washington Post, the 2017 Ossoff campaign opted not to turn the special election into a referendum on Trump's alleged scandals, but to focus on "policy decisions by the president and congressional Republicans".

[92] In 2020, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Ossoff was "more unapologetic about embracing liberal policy ideas than his Democratic predecessors during past statewide races.

[96] In response to the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ossoff stated that the Supreme Court "stripped American women of autonomy over their most personal health care decisions.

[100] His website says, "Violent crime, murder, rape, human trafficking, and corruption are rampant, while we spend billions locking up nonviolent drug offenders.

[96] Ossoff supports increasing economic relief for businesses and households affected by COVID-19 pandemic,[104] and believes testing, treatment, and vaccines for COVID-19 should be free.

[111] Ossoff resisted criticizing President Joe Biden for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, as other Democratic politicians had at the time, instead stating he was focused on "supporting the State Department and the Department of Defense as they work with limited time to expedite the evacuation" of stranded Americans and American-allied Afghans.

"[113] Ossoff was part of a bipartisan visit to China led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in October 2023, where they met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.

The delegation also met Foreign Minister Wang Yi, National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji, and Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Chen Jining.

[96] Ossoff has called for the repeal of "wasteful, anti-competitive special interest subsidies that make it hard for entrepreneurs to raise capital, enter the market, create jobs, and compete with larger firms who have lobbyists in Washington".

[96] Ossoff has supported various gun control measures, including background checks, red flag laws, and an assault weapons ban.

[125][126] Following the murder of Laken Riley, Ossoff blamed former President Donald Trump for the failure of a bipartisan immigration bill.

"[134] Ossoff voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment on the charge of incitement of insurrection following the 2021 United States Capitol attack, joining all Democrats and seven Republicans.

[138] In an interview with CNN, Ossoff expressed his displeasure with the bill, while also saying he didn't support the corporate boycotts, stating Georgians "rely upon and hope for and welcome jobs, investment and opportunity.

[140] On the night he was elected to the Senate, Ossoff's posts on Twitter from the previous decade have attracted renewed attention on social media, including several references to Star Wars, the musical group Imagine Dragons, and anime.

[144] When shown this by The Daily Beast, Ossoff is said to have "paused for a moment" and "furrowed his brow" before saying he wasn't aware of any of this, but did commend the "great community" he had that supported him during his 2020-2021 senate campaign.

[147] On the night of Ossoff's election to the United States Senate in January 2021, Kramer was working an overnight shift in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.