Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley are heading to a Senate Republican primary runoff in Georgia, NBC News projects, vying to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most consequential Senate races of the midterm elections.
Because no candidate won a majority of the primary vote, the race goes to a head-to-head GOP contest on June 16. Rep. Buddy Carter, the other top contender in the race, failed to make the runoff after running in third place in the initial round.
It is not clear if President Donald Trump will endorse a candidate in the runoff, after staying on the sidelines during the primary even as all three of the top candidates vied for his endorsement.
Collins was widely expected to advance to a runoff, as he led the field in most public polling after having spent the primary campaign stressing his MAGA bona fides and grassroots appeal. Collins, a trucking company owner, was first elected to Congress in 2022; his late father, Mac, also represented Georgia in Congress.
Collins’ closing TV ad in the primary featured video of Trump praising him, noting that he authored the Laken Riley Act, the first bill Trump signed into law in his second term. The bill, which addressed immigrant detention, was named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed by a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally.
Collins has pitched himself as a “true conservative,” telling supporters at a recent campaign stop in Dahlonega that he is “someone who has shown that he can pass bipartisan legislation and never compromises conservative values.”
But Collins’ primary opponents have argued that he would struggle in a general election against Ossoff, in part because he faces a House Ethics Committee inquiry over allegations that he misused congressional funds. Collins has been accused of paying his former chief of staff for campaign work and employing the aide’s girlfriend, who did not do work for the office, allegations that Collins has dismissed as “bogus.”
Collins has been pushing for Trump’s endorsement and has declined to break with him. Asked after that recent campaign stop whether there were any aspects of Trump’s second term that he disagreed with, Collins said he “can’t believe” Trump gets three hours of sleep.
“Listen, I ran on Trump policies. I ran on ‘America First.’ I know what those policies did and can do for this country and for the people of this country,” Collins said. “That’s what I’m running with, and he is — I wholeheartedly support what he’s been doing.”
Dooley, meanwhile, advances to a runoff after a late push on the campaign trail and on the airwaves, helped by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Dooley recently told NBC News that Kemp has been a “great mentor,” noting the governor helped connect him with supporters.
The two-term governor, who passed on running for Senate himself, endorsed Dooley early in the race. Kemp has joined Dooley on a statewide campaign tour and recently starred in an ad from his own PAC. Kemp is personally close with the Dooley family. Dooley’s father, Vince, was a legendary football coach at the University of Georgia, while Derek Dooley served as the head coach at the University of Tennessee.
Dooley has pitched himself as a “political outsider” and stressed that he wants to shake up Washington by instituting term limits and other reforms, like banning members of Congress from trading stocks. Dooley has faced criticism for not voting in the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections. Dooley said he “probably went 20 years” without voting for president, noting he was consumed by his coaching career.
Dooley has also sought Trump’s endorsement, sitting down with the president back in August. In his TV ads, Dooley says he will “work with President Trump but for you.”
Whoever wins the June runoff will be in for a hotly contested race against Ossoff, the only Democratic senator running for re-election this year in a state that Trump won in 2024.
And Ossoff has been gearing up for a tough race. His campaign had more than $32 million in its account as of April 29. On the campaign trail, Ossoff has been taking aim at a broader culture of corruption in Washington, as well as Trump, even though Trump won the state by 2 points in 2024.
Georgia has been one of the most tightly divided states in recent years, with Trump losing there by less than half a percentage point in 2020. And Republicans have been on a two-cycle losing streak in Senate races: Ossoff and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock first won their races in 2021 runoffs, and Warnock won again in 2022, defeating Trump-backed Herschel Walker.
Even some Republicans acknowledge the race will be difficult.
“I think it’s going to be very hard either way,” said Jason Shepherd, a former Cobb County GOP chairman who backed Dooley in the primary, noting that Ossoff’s office is well-known for strong constituent services.
“We are talking about a midterm election where a Republican has the White House, so we’re going to have the wind blowing against us,” Shepherd said. “And that should be expected.”
Still, Republicans have their eyes on Georgia as a top pickup opportunity in 2026, given that Trump carried it in 2024. Democrats are also defending a Senate seat in another Trump-won state, Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring.
