Donald Trump has thrown his weight behind Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia's GOP Senate runoff, delivering a last-minute endorsement just days before voters decide between the two-term congressman and former football coach Derek Dooley.
The race tightened after May's primary failed to produce a winner. Collins led the field with 40 percent of the vote, but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Dooley finished second at 30 percent, while Rep. Buddy Carter claimed 25 percent and was eliminated from consideration.
Collins has positioned himself as Trump's closest ally in the race, repeatedly invoking the Laken Riley Act, an immigration enforcement bill he authored that became the first legislation Trump signed in his second term. The congressman's campaign has hammered home that connection, with television spots featuring Trump's praise of Collins as "fantastic." Collins even brought on some of Trump's top campaign operatives to his team, signaling confidence he could leverage the former president's backing.
Dooley, meanwhile, has relied on a different power broker: Gov. Brian Kemp. The governor has personally campaigned for Dooley, who hails from a legendary University of Georgia football family. Kemp and his wife have appeared in Dooley ads and on the trail, though that relationship carries baggage. Kemp and Trump have tangled repeatedly over the president's false claims about the 2020 election, a tension that likely factored into Trump's choice to back Collins instead.
Trump's statement was characteristically blunt. "Mike has to beat a Republican opponent before he gets to Ossoff," the former president said in his social media post. "I don't know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person."
The runoff winner will face Sen. Jon Ossoff, the only Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in a state Trump carried in 2024. Dooley has outpaced Collins in recent ad spending, but Collins argues he built genuine grassroots momentum despite being outspent during the primary phase.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's endorsement comes at a decisive moment, but Georgia Republicans know that Kemp's ground game and personal standing could still make this race competitive."
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