By Mark Woolsey
Georgia voters cast their ballots in a runoff election Tuesday, with the matchups for the November general now clear.
In the GOP race for a national post, Rep. Mike Collins beat former football coach and first-time candidate Derek Dooley, by a 55-45 percent margin in the race for U.S. Senate. Collins had 389, 996 votes while Dooley tallied 312,213
Collins had the endorsement of President Trump during the campaign, which Dooley jumped into rather late.
Collins urged the crowd at his campaign watch party to put differences aside, focus on November, and work to beat Democratic nominee Jon Osoff.
“We stand united around one mission, and y’all know what that mission is. It’s to put a Republican in this seat, and get rid of Jon Osoff and return this seat to the people of Georgia,” he told cheering supporters.
Dooley was philosophical and tipped his hat to Collins.
“He ran a tough campaign, he got out early and we weren’t able to catch him. We had a lot of disagreements but one thing hasn’t changed, my opinion of Jon Osoff.”
Collins and Ossoff will square off in November.
In the race for Georgia Governor, Political newcomer Rick Jackson was the victor over Lt. Governor Burt Jones. Jackson scored 52.65 percent of the vote while Jones managed just 47.35. Jackson’s vote total was 373, 406. Jones tallied 335, 847.
Jackson said his building a highly profitable business set him apart.
He told supporters “I’m the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment.”
“I don’t care what the political interests want, how much they beg, how much they give me. I can’t be bought and I won’t back down.”
He grew emotional as he thanked members of his family and said, “I know this hasn’t been easy on you.”
He said that his November opponent, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, represents a failed past and “we came we just came up a little short.”
Jones noted the fundraising disparity in the campaign as he spoke to supporters, saying “We were outspent 7 or 8 to one. We felt like we had a chance to win tonight and we just came up a little short.”
The campaign was a brutal slugfest, with charges related to various scams and financial and other improprieties being tossed back and forth.
In the GOP race for the Lt. Governor nomination, Greg Dolezal topped Senator John F. Kennedy. On the Democratic side, Josh McLaurin beat Nabilah Parkes.
In the Republican race for Secretary of State, State Rep.Tim Fleming scored an impressive win over former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, topping him 65 to 35 percent. On the Democratic side, Penny Brown Reynolds beat Dana Barrett.
In the Republican Race for 11th district U. S Congress, Dr. John Cowan put Rob Adkerson away easily, winning 65 to 35 percent.
Results of other races:
https://results.sos.ga.gov/results/public/Georgia/elections/06162026GeneralPrimaryRunoff
All of the results are unofficial. The Cobb County Board of elections is scheduled to meet next week for the purpose of ratifying local votes.
No overall vote totals for Cobb County were available as of early Wednesday, but the elections office said 34,257 voted early.
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