Trump's Georgia Pick
Trump Endorses Loyalist Mike Collins for Georgia Senate Runoff, Reinforcing MAGA Identity
Days before the June 16 Republican runoff in Georgia, President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins for Senate, calling him a "MAGA champion" and throwing the weight of his movement behind a second-term congressman and trucking company owner. The endorsement, announced June 14 via social media, is Trump's latest bid to shape the Republican Party in his own image — and his latest clash with outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, according to AP News.
Collins finished first in Georgia's May 19 primary with about 41% of the vote but fell short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff. He now faces former college football coach Derek Dooley, who took roughly 30%, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The winner will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November — one of the most closely watched Senate races of the year.
Collins Hired Trump's Own Advisers Weeks Before Endorsement
The endorsement did not come out of nowhere. On May 27, Collins hired several of Trump's top political advisers to run his runoff campaign, according to Axios. That move effectively signaled the endorsement was coming and squeezed oxygen from rival campaigns. Collins responded to Trump's formal backing with enthusiasm: "I am honored to have the endorsement of the greatest President in my lifetime. We are going to take this MAGA momentum into November and retire Jon Ossoff once and for all," he said in an official campaign release.
Collins carries a lifetime rating of 100% from the Club for Growth, a powerful conservative group that has committed significant independent spending to his campaign. He has branded himself a "MAGA warrior" throughout the race, according to KTAR. Runoff polls now show him with a solid lead: a JMC Analytics survey has him up 55% to 35%, and a Quantus Insights poll shows him ahead 54% to 37%.
Trump vs. Kemp: An Old Feud Plays Out in the Georgia Primary
Governor Brian Kemp, who leaves office due to term limits, has backed Dooley — not Collins. The rivalry between Trump and Kemp dates to the 2020 election, when Kemp refused Trump's demands to overturn Georgia's results. In 2026, Kemp is betting that Dooley's more moderate image gives Republicans a safer path to defeating Ossoff in November, according to The Washington Post.
Dooley has pitched himself as a candidate who can build a "diverse coalition" of MAGA and moderate voters. But Trump's endorsement dealt what The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein called a "brutal late blow" to that pitch. Republicans are haunted by 2022, when Trump-backed Herschel Walker lost to Raphael Warnock in a race the party thought it could win.
Ossoff Quietly Builds a War Chest While Republicans Battle
While Collins and Dooley spend millions attacking each other, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has stayed above the fray. He has built up a sizable campaign war chest and leads in hypothetical general-election polling. An April 2026 Echelon Insights survey showed Ossoff ahead 51% to 44% against Collins, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Georgia is one of only two Democratic-held Senate seats on the map in a state Trump won in 2024 — he carried it 50.7% to 48.5%. That makes it a top Republican target and a seat the GOP sees as essential to winning a Senate majority, according to US News. Analysts at Cook Political Report warn, however, that Georgia's "purple" tendencies mean a candidate too tied to Trump's 2020 rhetoric could still struggle with the independent voters who decide close races.
What Happens If Collins Wins the Runoff and the General Election
A Collins victory on June 16 would end the Kemp era's grip on the Georgia GOP and cement the MAGA wing's control of the state party, according to The Washington Post. It would also set up a November race that analysts describe as a direct referendum on Trumpism in the South. Establishment Republicans fear that Collins' "unfiltered" MAGA persona plays well in primaries but risks alienating the suburban swing voters who have drifted away from the party in recent cycles.
For Trump, the stakes go beyond Georgia. His string of primary endorsements is reshaping the Republican Party into something increasingly indistinguishable from his own movement, according to Audacy. A Collins Senate win in November would be his most tangible proof yet that MAGA candidates can win in competitive purple states — not just safe red ones.
Sentiment
NeutralPublishers
13
Articles
13
Reach
13
