Rep. Mike Collins defeated Derek Dooley in Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate runoff and will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in a closely watched November race.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Rep. Mike Collins won Georgia’s Republican runoff for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, defeating former football coach Derek Dooley and securing the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
NBC News projected Collins as the winner a little more than an hour after polls closed, when less than 45% of the vote had been counted. At the time the race was called, Collins led Dooley 53.3% to 46.7%.
Decision Desk HQ also made an early call for Collins, according to an election update shared Tuesday night.
Collins, who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District and owns a trucking company, was backed by President Donald Trump late in the runoff. Dooley, a lawyer, first-time candidate and former University of Tennessee football coach, was supported by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
The runoff followed the May 19 Republican primary, in which no candidate received more than 50% of the vote. Collins led that contest with 40.5%, followed by Dooley at 30.2% and Rep. Buddy Carter at 25.1%. Two other candidates finished below 4%.
Under Georgia election rules, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff if no candidate wins a majority.
Collins had led polling for much of the primary season. As the race neared election day, Dooley moved ahead of Carter, and establishment-aligned supporters spent heavily on advertising in an effort to boost his campaign.
The November race is expected to be one of the most closely watched Senate contests in the country. Ossoff has been described as the “most vulnerable” Democratic senator up for reelection, though he is also widely believed to have possible 2028 presidential ambitions.
The Georgia Senate race could help determine which party controls the chamber during the second half of Trump’s second term.
RealClear Polling’s average before Tuesday’s runoff showed Collins performing better than Dooley in a potential general election matchup against Ossoff. The average projected Ossoff leading Collins by 2.8 points, while Ossoff led Dooley by 6.7 points.
Collins’ campaign also promoted its message in the final stretch through a social media post.
Trump waited until the final stage of the runoff to endorse Collins, calling him “MAGA Mike Collins” and praising him as a “Highly Respected Congressman who has been with me from the very beginning.”
Trump also contrasted Collins with Dooley.
“I don’t know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person,” Trump said.
“Unfortunately, he has lived outside of Georgia for most of his life, didn’t vote in 2020 or 2016, and said that I lost Georgia in 2020 when, in actuality, the facts have now proven that I won by a lot!” Trump added.
Trump’s endorsement in the Senate runoff came after he had earlier backed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in Georgia’s Republican gubernatorial race. Jones also competed Tuesday in a runoff against billionaire Rick Jackson after both advanced from a primary field that included Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr.
Collins now moves into the general election against Ossoff, giving Republicans their nominee in a race expected to draw national attention, major spending and intense scrutiny through November.
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