Trump backs Mike Collins in Georgia Senate runoff fight
Trump broke neutrality in Georgia’s GOP Senate runoff, backing Mike Collins two days before voting and testing his grip on the MAGA base.
Donald Trump put his weight behind Rep. Mike Collins on Sunday, breaking neutrality in Georgia’s Republican Senate runoff and handing the second-term congressman a late boost two days before voters decide the nominee. The endorsement, delivered in a late-night Truth Social post, sharpened the stakes in a race that is now measuring Trump’s influence inside one of the country’s most closely watched battleground states.
Collins, who represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, faced former college football coach Derek Dooley in the June 16 runoff after neither candidate cleared 50% in the May 19 primary. Collins led that first round with 369,642 votes, or 40.5%. Dooley finished second with 275,534 votes, or 30.2%, while Rep. Buddy Carter was eliminated with 229,223 votes, or 25.1%.
The winner will go on to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff on Nov. 3, 2026, in a race that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate. Ossoff is seeking a second term, and the Georgia contest has become one of the marquee Senate fights of the midterm cycle, with national operatives watching whether Republican voters choose a Trump loyalist or a candidate more closely tied to Gov. Brian Kemp.
That divide has defined the runoff. Kemp has backed Dooley, while Trump and Kemp have long had a strained relationship, turning the Republican contest into a proxy fight between Trump-aligned activists and Republicans who want a nominee with broader crossover appeal in a statewide race. Trump’s decision to publicly side with Collins now puts his imprint on the outcome and forces donors and activists to reassess where the center of gravity in Georgia’s GOP really sits.
The president’s backing also fits Collins’ broader strategy. He has tried to present himself as a hard-edged conservative in the mold of Trump, while Trump’s orbit had already been drifting toward him in the final stretch. Several of Trump’s top political advisers had joined Collins’ campaign in late May, signaling that the former president’s inner circle was warming to the congressman even before the endorsement became official.
For Ossoff, the runoff has already supplied a ready-made general-election argument: whichever Republican emerges will be tied closely to Trump in a state that Trump won in 2024, but will still need to win over voters who decide Senate races on electability as much as loyalty. The endorsement makes that tension harder for Republicans to ignore.
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