President Donald Trump endorsed Representative Mike Collins on Sunday in Georgia’s Republican Senate primary runoff, giving the congressman a significant boost as he competes against former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley for the chance to challenge Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November. Trump described Collins as a “true Friend, Fighter, and WARRIOR” and said he had his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in the race.
The endorsement was widely seen as a major development in a closely watched contest in one of the country’s most competitive battleground states. Collins had already emerged as the early frontrunner in the first round of primary voting in mid-May, when he led Dooley by about 10 percentage points in a field that also included Representative Buddy Carter, another Trump-aligned candidate. Polling ahead of the runoff had also shown Collins with an edge in the head-to-head matchup.
Dooley, however, had the support of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a popular Republican who invested heavily in the race and appeared with Dooley at many campaign events across the state. Georgia Republicans had expected the runoff to be tight, but Trump’s endorsement could shift momentum in Collins’s favor. Trump’s backing has recently proven powerful in several Republican primaries, especially in the South, though he suffered an unexpected loss in an Iowa governor’s race earlier in June.
Collins, a trucking executive known for combative social media posts, has positioned himself as the more loyal MAGA candidate. His campaign has emphasized his alignment with Trump, including hiring some of the president’s political advisers. He also sponsored the first bill Trump signed after returning to the presidency. After the endorsement, Collins thanked Trump and said Georgians deserved a senator who would deliver real results, adding that the priority was defeating Ossoff in November.
Dooley tried to appeal directly to Trump during the campaign, including a long meeting at the White House last summer and by using the slogan “Georgia First,” echoing Trump’s “America First” message. Trump has historically shown interest in sports figures entering politics, but Dooley’s main political ally, Kemp, has had a rocky relationship with the former president since refusing to help overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. Trump revived his false claim that he won Georgia in 2020 while criticizing Dooley’s comments on the issue.
In response, Dooley said he respected Trump and looked forward to working with him if elected, but argued that a vote for Collins would help Ossoff. Some Georgia Republicans have expressed concern that neither primary candidate may be strong enough to defeat Ossoff, who is considered a formidable incumbent and a strong fundraiser. Ossoff’s campaign dismissed both Republican contenders as unelectable after months of internal competition for Trump’s support.
The runoff comes amid broader testing of Trump’s influence in Republican politics, with early voting already underway in Georgia and other contests scheduled in Alabama and elsewhere.
