Trump-backed Collins beats Kemp’s pick to take on Ossoff for Georgia Senate

Skip to content

Rep. Mike Collins (R) is projected to defeat former college football coach Derek Dooley in the Senate Republican runoff to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) in Georgia this fall, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Collins’s victory is a major win for President Trump, who issued a last-minute endorsement for the staunch ally over the weeekend.

Tuesday’s showdown pitted the president and Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who backed Dooley, against each other in the competitive race. Collins will now face Ossoff, who is widely viewed as the most vulnerable Senate Democrat up for election this November.

Most Republicans saw Collins as the favorite even before Trump put his thumb on the scale Sunday.

Collins gained national attention for his work on the Laken Riley Act, immigration legislation that allows federal officials to detain certain undocumented immigrants if they’re accused or convicted of certain crimes like burglary and theft.

Current and former campaign staffers of Collins were also involved in Trump’s political operations, and he enjoyed endorsements from key Trump allies like Rep. Brian Jack (R-Ga.), a former Trump White House political director.

Yet, the congressman, also the son of former Rep. Mac Collins (R-Ga.), contended with controversy in the weeks leading up to the runoff. Collins fired one of his longtime aides, Brandon Phillips, after the campaign’s X account made an insensitive post mocking the strategist of a pro-Dooley group, whose wife had accused former NBC anchor Matt Lauer of rape and tried to later commit suicide.

Collins quickly condemned the post and said he made staffing changes to make sure a similar situation didn’t occur.

Dooley and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), who sought the GOP nomination for Senate, also attacked Collins over a House Ethics Committee review of allegations that the Collins’ office had hired an intern who had a relationship with Phillips and allegedly did not do any work.

The congressman has called the issue a “total nothing burger” while his legal counsel has pressed the committee to drop the allegations, pointing to “two disgruntled, former members of Congressman Collins staff.”

Dooley, meanwhile, sought to position himself as the outsider candidate looking to turn things around in Washington, D.C. He touted his background as a former University of Tennessee football coach and campaigned on issues like tackling the deficit and term limits.

Some Republicans pointed out that Dooley enjoyed institutional backing in Kemp and was not necessarily an “outsider” in the race.

Trump and other Republicans also noted that Dooley did not vote in some of the state’s elections and previously acknowledged that the president lost the state in  2020 — a fact that Trump continues to baselessly challenge.

Collins and Dooley were forced into a runoff last month after neither candidate was able notch more than half of the vote outright in the initial primary. Collins placed first with close to 41 percent, while Dooley placed second with 30 percent.

Collins will face an uphill battle against Ossoff, who has proven to be formidable candidate with a hefty war chest of over $32 million, according to his last federal campaign filing.

The Senate Democrat also benefits from the incumbency advantage and the fact that mditerms tend to be a challenging political environment for the president’s party.

Ossoff ripped Collins in a statement after his primary win Tuesday, calling the congressman “a notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars.”

“Collins, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, voted to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, for the Iran War, and for the Trump tariffs,” Ossoff added.

At the same time, Georgia is one of six battleground states Trump won in 2024, and the state has a knack for close, ticket-splitting elections.

Updated at 9:23 p.m. EDT

Tags

Brian Kemp

Buddy Carter

Jon Ossoff

Mac Collins

Matt Lauer

Mike Collins

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.