Rep. Mike Collins Advances to Georgia GOP Senate Runoff as Dooley, Carter Battle for Second Spot

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) will advance to a runoff in June after securing his spot in the Republican U.S. Senate primary on Tuesday night.

Since no GOP candidate in the Georgia U.S. Senate race received more than 50 percent of the votes, two candidates, including Collins, will vie for the Republican nomination in a runoff on June 16. The Associated Press (AP) called the race at 9:43 p.m. with nearly 60 percent of votes counted.

At the time, Collins had secured 41.6 percent of the votes, followed by Derek Dooley at 28.5 percent and Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) at 25.8 percent. Whoever secures the second-most amount of votes will face Collins in June.

Collins, who represents Georgia’s 10th congressional district and owns a trucking company, is up against Gov. Brian Kemp (R)-endorsed Dooley, former University of Tennessee football coach, lawyer, and a first-time candidate; and Carter, a pharmacist and longtime GOP lawmaker representing the state’s 1st congressional district. Republicans are hoping to snag the seat of Democrat Sen. Jon Ossoff, who was first elected in 2021 and has been dubbed the “most vulnerable” Democrat up for reelection.

Polling leading up to the primary consistently showed Collins leading his competitors. Closer to election day, polling showed Dooley surpassing Carter as the candidate, and his establishment backers dumped funding into massive advertising campaigns.

RealClear Polling average shows Collins presenting the most challenge to Ossoff, with the incumbent projected to lead by a narrow 2.8 points in the general election.

Collins largely executed a grassroots campaign — visiting all 159 counties in Georgia — and credits that strategy to his lead in the race.

“What is our mission? Our mission is to make sure that we put a Republican in that seat. Someone who actually reflects the values of the state and the people of this state,” Collins told voters at a campaign event in Bainbridge, Georgia, ahead of the primary election.

“Right now we’ve got a primary coming up, and not only do we need to put a Republican in the seat, but to win the state of Georgia, you need to have the right Republican. You have to make sure you put the right Republican up against Jon Ossoff in the state of Georgia,” he said.

While President Donald Trump made an early endorsement in the 2026 Georgia gubernatorial race for Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, but he has yet to endorse a candidate in the Senate race. The 45th and 47th president did note on October 15 that “some very good people are running.”

“And I understand that I haven’t made a decision yet,” Trump said at the time. “But I’m following that race very carefully.”

“It’s very important for Georgia to get a real senator because the senator they have now is a horrible senator,” Trump said of incumbent Sen. Ossoff. “Those people are great and they deserve a good senator because the man they have now is a weak, ineffective person.”

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.