The Georgia special House election just became the most expensive House race in history

Democrat Jon Ossoff has raised $23.6 million for his campaign in the special election for Georgia's 6th Congressional District seat against Republican Karen Handel in what has become the most expensive House race in history, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

The two candidates are squaring off in an election to replace former Rep. Tom Price, who vacated the seat to serve as President Donald Trump's secretary of health and human services.

Ossoff led all vote getters in the April 18 special election primary with just over 48 percent of the vote. Handel was runner-up in a field of 17 candidates with 19.8 percent. Because no one garnered a majority, Ossoff and Handel were forced into a June 20 runoff election.

Overall, the campaign has cost a record $40 million, the AJC said.

Federal campaign finance documents filed on Thursday revealed that in just the last two months Ossoff has raised $15 million in his quest to flip the 6th District — a longtime GOP stronghold — to the Democratic column.

According to the documents, Ossoff has reportedly burned through the vast majority of his campaign's small fortune, as it reports there is only $1 million left in Ossoff's campaign coffers.

While it is not clear how much money donated to Ossoff's campaign was actually from Georgia residents, the AJC reported, only one in 20 donations were made by in-state donors, with the average donation being $20.49.

According to Handel's campaign, Ossoff's funds were “raised from Nancy Pelosi and the ‘resistance’ to fund ads falsely attacking Karen. We are confident that the people of the 6th are not going to let Pelosi’s puppet steal a seat in Georgia.”

Handel reported late Thursday that during the same two-month period, she had raised only $3.8 million, and now has $1.4 million on hand. Also, the AJC reported, outside Republican groups have reinforced her with more than $9 million in additional spending during the runoff election.

According to the AJC political blog, all the money flowing into this race from both sides is about "sending a message ahead of the 2018 midterms: That Donald Trump’s presidency is strong/weak and that Democrats are still in the wilderness/resurging."