Jon Ossoff, the 6th District candidate, got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Alisha Kramer this weekend.
Ossoff, 30, popped the question on Friday night. On Saturday, his supporters and volunteers from the Georgia Federation of Democratic Women congratulated the happy couple when they made a joint appearance in Marietta.
The Georgia Democrat has received national attention in his race against Karen Handel to occupy the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by Tom Price.
Handel issued a statement congratulating Ossoff and Kramer on their engagement, noting that she and her husband Steve, have been married for 25 years.
Ossoff, a filmmaker turned politician, who some say seemed to emerge from nowhere to enter the political arena, has had to adjust to the bright lights of celebrity. Now Kramer, 27, is about to find herself in the glare of publicity as well.
Things started moving in that direction when CNN's Alisyn Camerota asked Ossoff during an interview about his plans to get married. Ossoff declined to divulge any details of his personal life, but now his detractors are suggesting that the timing of his engagement is a political move.
So now that she is officially in the spotlight, you may be wondering, just who is Alisha Kramer? We have requested an interview with Kramer, but for now, here's what we can glean from social media and our own reporting:
She and Ossoff attended the same schools. So much for young love not lasting. These two, who both attended Paideia School -- an independent pre K - 12 school in Druid Hills -- started dating as teens. Kramer arrived at Georgetown in 2008, a year before Ossoff graduated. While there, she studied Biology of Global Health, according to her Linked In page.
So of course, she is well-traveled. You can't have global health in your degree and not actually travel the globe. Kramer studied abroad in Denmark as a Georgetown student. She would later organize research trips or lead delegations to locations including Botswana, Switzerland, Ethiopia, South Africa and Zambia as program coordinator and research assistant at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Health Policy Center. Her work dealt with global health issues, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and women's health, according to her author bio on Impatient Optimists blog for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She's also been to South America, including a visit to Patagonia.
She's a student again. The daughter of a psychologist mom and employment lawyer father, Kramer is currently a student at Emory University School of Medicine where she is studying Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her expected graduation date is 2018. Her education is the reason Ossoff can't vote for himself in the upcoming election. The couple opted to live within walking distance of Emory so Kramer can commute to school each day. That means Ossoff doesn't live in the sixth district, but he told the AJC that he plans to live there are soon as Kramer completes her schooling.
She’s an aficionado of Ultimate Frisbee. Not only did Kramer play Ultimate in college, she was a team captain. She even contributed an essay to the (ultimate!!) College Women’s Ultimate Resource Manual and is a fan of Ragnarok, Elite Ultimate Frisbee in Copenhagen, Denmark. It’s another passion she shares with her hubby-to-be who was known to play a little Ultimate himself back in the day.
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