Georgia’s 2026 U.S. Senate election is heating up, and will be a major focal point of the midterms next year.
So far, three Republicans have declared for the open primary to try and unseat Incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff, who was elected in 2020.
Who’s running?
Those three include U.S. Rep. for Georgia’s 1st Congressional District Buddy Carter and U.S. Rep. for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District Mike Collins.
Carter announced his candidacy in May while Collins announced his candidacy on Monday.
There’s also Reagan Box, a horse trainer who says she will “fight against the influence of special interest money” and roll back “harmful regulations.” So far, Box has raised over $60,000 and has just under $2,000 cash on hand according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) data.
There is also heavy speculation that former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley will run. Recently, the Georgia Recorder has reported that Governor Brian Kemp is backing Dooley.
There’s no word on an official campaign as of yet from Dooley.
What Ossoff is saying
At his second reelection campaign event in Savannah earlier this month, Ossoff railed against the Trump administration in the same city that Carter represents.
Carter is a self-proclaimed “MAGA Warrior” and Collins has also been supportive of Trump.
“When Donald Trump said he was going to work for working-class Americans, what he really meant was he was going to take away your healthcare to cut taxes for the rich,” Ossoff said at the rally.
In a statement to AccessWDUN, Democratic Party of Georgia Senior Communications Advisor Devon Cruz said: “While Georgia Republicans stare down an increasingly tense and chaotic primary by the day, this is what it all boils down to: the endorsement a MAGA extremist like Mike Collins really wants is President Trump, who is currently duking it out in a ‘proxy fight’ with Governor Kemp.”
Cruz linked an article by Punchbowl News highlighting the potential rifts between the Trump and Kemp wings of the Republican party regarding the Senate endorsement.
“These cowards and hypocrites in the Freedom Caucus, they make their entire fake persona about cutting deficits, and then they get threatened with a primary and they fold for a Big Mac on Air Force One,” Ossoff said. “So now, our kids and our kids' kids and their grandkids have $4-trillion more debt to pay down and it’s not even for a good cause. It’s so someone worth $50-million can buy another vacation home to visit once a year.”
Ossoff was referring to the Trump-backed “Big, Beautiful Bill.” The Georgia members of the Freedom Caucus include Collins and Georgia U.S. Rep. for the 9th District Andrew Clyde.
In this election cycle, Ossoff’s campaign has raised over $40-million, has spent over $30-million, and has over $15-million cash on hand according to FEC data.
What Carter is saying
When asked about Collins’ endorsements, Carter noted that it’s the funding that matters in an interview with AccessWDUN.
“We’ve really just started with endorsements,” Carter said. “We’ve been focusing primarily on fundraising. Endorsements don’t vote and they don’t buy commercials.”
Carter, who has raised over $3-million, spent over $2-million, and has over $4-million cash on hand, is the most-funded Republican so far per FEC data.
Carter has represented coastal Georgia since 2015, and mentioned how important it is to get his name out to a wider Georgia audience. With that in mind, Carter said his team spent over $2-million on an Atlanta-area advertisement.
“As they say, there are two Georgias,” Carter said. “There’s Atlanta and there’s everywhere else … so we’re concentrating on making sure that we’re getting our name, I.D. out there.”
In that advertisement, a transgender woman can be seen complaining about Carter’s loyalty to Trump and banning people like her from competing in women’s sports.
“Georgians deserve someone who’s going to support Donald Trump and his America-first policies,” Carter said. “Ossoff is not supporting and will not support Donald Trump. Ossoff voted to allow men to compete with girls in sports … Ossoff’s values don’t reflect the values of Georgians.”
Carter said his experience has shaped him to be a qualified senator.
“My father was a sharecropper, my father worked shift-work at a paper mill, so I grew up within very, very common means,” Carter said. “I had my own business for 32 years. So I understand business, I also understand municipal government, I was a mayor. I was in the state legislature for 10 years, so I understand state government, and I’ve been in Congress for 10 years. I do think that my experience is an asset here.”
Carter said he went to Young Harris College, so he knows northeast Georgia well.
“I’m the true conservative in this race,” Carter said. “I’m the one who has supported Donald Trump in his first term and in his second term. Every statewide elected official in the state of Georgia is a Republican, with the exception of our two senators. Trump deserves someone from Georgia who’s going to support him in the Senate, Georgians deserve someone who’s going to support Donald Trump in the Senate, and I’m that someone who’s going to do that.”
Collins announces a plethora of endorsements
Just days after announcing he would run, Collins has announced endorsements from numerous Republicans.
On his X account, Collins announced endorsements from 19 Republican lawmakers in the state, including Senate Majority Leader for Georgia’s 31st district Jason Anavitarte and House Majority Whip for Georgia’s 176th district James Burchett.
The other 17 endorsements are as follows:
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 6th district Jason Ridley
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 15th district Matthew Gambill
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 21st district Brad Thomas
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 25th district Rick Williams
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 71st district Jutt Howard
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 111th district Rey Martinez
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 118th district Clint Crowe
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 121st district Marcus Wiedower
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State Rep. for Georgia’s 135th district Beth Camp
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State Rep. for Georgia's 145th district Robert Dickey
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State Senator for Georgia’s 8th district Russ Goodman
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State Senator for Georgia’s 11th district Sam Watson
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State Senator for Georgia’s 13th district Carden Summers
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State Senator for Georgia’s 23rd district Max Burns
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State Senator for Georgia’s 24th district Lee Anderson
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State Senator for Georgia’s 45th district Clint Dixon
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State Senator for Georgia’s 48th district Shawn Still
“We’ve had an incredible 24 hours on this rollout,” Collins said in a video posted to his social media. “Support has been amazing … listen, if you thought the rollout was good, we’re just getting started.”
Collins has represented parts of north Georgia, including Barrow, Madison, Athens-Clarke, and Hart counties since his election in 2022.
Currently, Collins has raised over $700,000, spent over $300,000 and has over $1-million cash on hand just days after announcing his candidacy according to FEC data.
Background
U.S. Senators serve six-year terms and are broken up into three classes for voting purposes. Class 2 senators were elected in 2020, and are up for reelection next year.
There are 33 senate elections and two special senate elections across the country to fill appointed seats.
Democrats are defending 13 seats while Republicans are defending 22 seats.
Only three of those seats are considered “toss-ups” according to Inside Elections including two open races after North Carolina’s Incumbent Republican Senator Thom Tillis and Michigan’s Incumbent Democrat Gary Peters announced they are not seeking reelection.
Ossoff’s seat is the only one that has an incumbent running considered a toss-up.
The primary will be in May of next year with the general election set for Nov. 3.
