Collins wins Georgia Senate runoff, to challenge Ossoff

Republican Rep. https://www.axios.com/2026/05/27/mike-collins-georgia-senate-race-trump" target="_blank">Mike Collins on Tuesday defeated Derek Dooley and will face off against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in November.

Why it matters: President https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump endorsed Collins after the May 19 primary.

He now faces a well-funded Democratic incumbent who's won a statewide campaign in Georgia before.

• Republicans view the Georgia Democrat's seat as key to maintaining control of the https://www.axios.com/2026/02/06/gop-senate-midterms-2026" target="_blank">U.S. Senate.

Zoom in: Collins won roughly 55% of the vote, according to https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/06162026GeneralPrimaryRunoff" target="_blank">preliminary results from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office.

• The AP https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/georgia-primary-runoff-results-us-senate/" target="_blank">called the race for Collins just after 8:30pm with 52% of the vote counted.
• Dooley later conceded to Collins, the AP https://apnews.com/live/election-primary-06-16-2026?version=1781654524627#0000019e-d337-dd4a-a3ff-df7fc7000000" target="_blank">reported. "He ran a tough campaign, he got out early and we just never could catch him."

Between the lines: The runoff became one of the clearest tests yet of the competing arguments shaping the Republican Party in Georgia and nationally: embrace https://www.axios.com/2026/05/09/trump-midterms-primary-endorsements" target="_blank">MAGA or pursue an alternative path to victory.

• Collins, a trucking company owner who represents a red district between Atlanta and Augusta, ran as a Trump loyalist who http://collins.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-mike-collins-laken-riley-act-heads-president-trumps-desk" target="_blank">made immigration enforcement a central focus of his campaign.
• Kemp, a popular swing-state governor rounding out his second and final term in office, was a Dooley campaign trail fixture.

Follow the money: Collins raised $4.3 million up to the most recent disclosure deadline, https://www.opensecrets.org/elections/georgia/federal/georgia-senate/candidates" target="_blank">according to Open Secrets.

• By comparison, Ossoff has raised more than $57 million and built one of the Senate's strongest campaign war chests.

What they're saying: In his https://www.c-span.org/event/campaign-2026/rep-mike-collins-delivers-victory-remarks-on-night-of-georgia-senate-gop-primary-runoff/444039" target="_blank">victory speech Tuesday night, Collins thanked Dooley for running a "spirited campaign" and Kemp for "his leadership and his friendship over the years."

• "We all know what the mission is here," Collins said.
• On https://x.com/ossoff/status/2067051427390947501" target="_blank">X, Ossoff slammed Collins as an "extremist" and attacked his voting record https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2026199" target="_blank">on issues like the https://www.axios.com/world/iran" target="_blank">Iran conflict.

What's next: The general election is Nov. 3.