Trump Backs Collins in Georgia Senate Runoff
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- Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Mike Collins over Derek Dooley in a middle-of-the-night Sunday social media post, calling Collins a "true friend, fighter, and WARRIOR" who "has been with me from the very beginning."
- Mike Collins led Dooley in Georgia's May 19 primary but neither cleared 40%, setting up Tuesday's runoff against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff — the only Democratic senator facing voters in a state Trump carried in 2024.
- Derek Dooley, a political newcomer and former football coach, is backed by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who recruited him and has publicly clashed with Trump; Dooley acknowledged going nearly two decades without voting but says he voted for Trump in 2024.
- Trump's endorsement mirrors his recent Texas play backing Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, and comes amid a winning streak over Republicans he deemed insufficiently loyal — including Thomas Massie, Bill Cassidy (who failed to make his Louisiana runoff) and several Indiana state senators.
- Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, a 2025 law requiring detention of immigrants charged with certain crimes, and invoked its bipartisan support to argue he can court moderates — a direct counter to Kemp's case that political outsiders beat Democratic incumbents.
- Collins called the 2020 election "legitimately rigged" on Sunday and skipped Kemp entirely at his rally, instead attacking Ossoff as out of step with Georgia values.
Why it matters: Tuesday's runoff is a real-world test of whether Trump's late endorsement can overcome Kemp's track-record argument: Kemp notes Republicans haven't won a Georgia Senate race since 2016 despite fully embracing Trump each cycle — the same pattern that played out in Iowa, where Trump's backing failed to lift Rep. Randy Feenstra in the gubernatorial primary.
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