Georgia U.S. Senate race continues on with Collins, Dooley runoff on GOP side

by Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

May 20, 2026

JACKSON, Ga. – Georgia’s U.S. Senate primary race is headed to a runoff on the Republican side between Congressman Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.

The Associated Press called the race for Collins, who finished first, and Dooley after he battled it out with Congressman Buddy Carter for second place.

Since no candidate received the required 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will face off in a June 16 runoff. The winner will face Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November’s general election.

As of about 11:30 p.m., Collins’ lead held at nearly 41%, according to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s office.

Dooley was in second place with about 30% of the vote, and Congressman Buddy Carter trailed with about 25%.

Collins is the founder and CEO of a trucking company who was first elected to Congress in 2022. He’s also the son of former U.S. Rep. Mac Collins, who served in Congress from 1993 until 2005.

Speaking to supporters in his hometown of Jackson after the AP called the race in his favor, Jackson characterized Dooley as a puppet for outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Ossoff as an out-of-touch coastal elite.

“When I signed up for this, I knew it was going to be tough,” Collins said. “I knew it would be tough to run against an incumbent U.S. senator, but y’all, what I didn’t know is that I was going to have to face an incumbent governor in the primary first. But now listen, looking at the results tonight, it shows that nominees are not picked on West Paces Ferry. And in November, we’re going to show that Georgia senators are not picked by California and New York donors.”

Collins represents Georgia’s 10th District, which runs northeast from metro Atlanta to the South Carolina border and includes Athens.

During the campaign, Collins branded himself as a “conservative workhorse” who would push tirelessly for rightwing legislation. He touts passage of the Laken Riley Act as among his top accomplishments in office.

The act expands requirements for the detention of immigrants charged with property crimes and was the first bill signed into law by President Donald Trump in his second term. It was named for a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed on the University of Georgia campus by a man who had entered the country illegally.

Collins has aligned himself with Trump, but the president has not endorsed in the race.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating Collins and his chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, over allegations that they improperly used government funds to pay a woman romantically linked to Phillips as an intern even though she did no actual work.

Collins has called the accusations a baseless political attack.

Dooley is the former football coach at the University of Tennessee and the son of legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley.

He’s running with the support of Kemp, who remains one of Georgia’s most popular politicians but declined to run for the senate seat.

Kemp has toured the state with Dooley pitching him to voters and donors as the best bet to beat Ossoff in the fall, and introduced Dooley at his election night celebration.

Speaking to a cheering crowd of supporters, Dooley said he has the momentum needed to win the primary.

“Tonight, guys, we punched our ticket to the runoff,” Dooley said. “Ten months ago, we were only at 0%. Two months ago, we were polling at 10%, and everybody was saying it’s over, Collins is running away with it.”

“Beating Jon Ossoff is not going to be done by another DC politician,” he added.

Dooley has pledged to promote safety and education as well as cutting government spending. He has also promised to only serve two terms in office if elected.

The Senate race represents Dooley’s only foray into politics. Supporters say that’s a good thing and call him a blank slate who can appeal to Trump-supporting Republicans as well as moderate members of either party. Opponents say he has never taken a stand on important issues and criticize him for not voting in recent presidential elections.

As of now, Republicans have a 53-45 majority in the U.S Senate, but 33 of the 100 seats will be up on ballots across the country in November.

Ossoff is the only Democratic senator up for re-election in a state won by Trump in 2024. That means it’s a must-win for Democrats if they want a chance at flipping the Senate and a big target for Republicans hoping to keep control of the chamber.

The race is likely to wind up as one of the most closely watched and expensive in the country.

Ossoff has raised the most money of any Senate candidate in 2026. According to the Federal Election Commission, he raised $14 million from the start of the year through the end of March, and his total funds topped $31 million as of his most recent filing.

And on Monday, Senate Majority PAC, an organization that supports Democratic Senate candidates, announced plans to spend $20 million to support Ossoff through TV ads.

“It doesn’t matter which Republican wins their primary – Carter, Collins, and Dooley are all the same: Trump loyalists who’ve never put Georgia first a day in their lives,” said Senate Majority PAC Spokesperson Lauren French in a statement.

The Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC that supports Republicans in the Senate, previously announced plans to spend $44 million to defeat Ossoff.

Speaking to reporters in Atlanta Monday, Carter said he was proud of his campaign but acknowledged that he was at a disadvantage being from coastal Georgia rather than the Atlanta metropolitan area.

“It’s tough for somebody outside the Atlanta area,” he said. “There truly are two Georgias, there’s Atlanta and everywhere else. And it’s been tough for somebody from coastal Georgia to get better known in the Atlanta area, and that’s where the density is, that’s where the population is.”

Ossoff campaign communications director Ellie Dougherty attacked the GOP candidates in a statement after the results came in.

“After Brian Kemp’s crushing refusal to run for Senate, Trump puppets Collins and Dooley have made themselves terminally inseparable from the toxic president,” she said. “Now the failed congressman who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman and the failed coach who was only a coach because his daddy was a coach limp into a monthlong race-to-the-bottom that will surely leave both broke and unelectable.”

Reporter Ellie Fivas contributed to this story.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.