Jon Ossoff has won the U.S. Senate race in Georgia, defeating Republican Rep. Mike Collins according to a race call by The Associated Press, npr.org reported.
The contest pitted the only incumbent Senate Democrat defending a seat in a state President Trump carried in 2024 against a Republican nominee whose campaign struggled with persistent controversies. A year ago, both parties viewed Georgia as one of the cycle’s marquee Senate showdowns. On paper, the race should have been closer.
For the first time in a generation, Democrats managed to capture both of Georgia’s Senate seats during the 2021 races. During the 2022 midterms, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock barely held onto his seat in a runoff, even against a deeply flawed opponent. Otherwise, Republicans have continued to win nearly every other statewide race in Georgia.
During the spring primary season this cycle, Trump threw his support behind Collins instead of first-time contender Derek Dooley, a former football coach who had the backing of Georgia’s well-liked Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. Managing a family trucking business, Collins faced persistent difficulties shaking off inquiries regarding his associations with relatives and past employees connected to antisemitic and white nationalist perspectives. He also continued to embrace Trump’s false claims about widespread election fraud in 2020.
Those issues alienated independent voters and some Republican-leaning Georgians. Meanwhile, Ossoff built a different kind of reputation. Because of the quality of his constituent services, the Democratic candidate earned local respect even from certain Republican figures. Across the nation, Ossoff generated great excitement among Democrats looking for new leaders to guide the party away from political isolation.
Having previously worked as a documentary filmmaker and congressional staffer, Ossoff initially gained national attention running an unexpectedly competitive 2017 special election campaign for a suburban House seat. Following his victory in the 2021 Georgia Senate runoff, he drew notice for his rigorous questioning of Trump appointees during Capitol Hill hearings. Throughout the campaign, rally footage of Ossoff condemning purported corruption within Trump’s circle spread widely across the internet, prompting numerous Democrats to bring up his potential as a presidential contender.
Ossoff has said he is not running for the White House in 2028.
