Georgia Republicans face a critical test Tuesday as they choose a candidate to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November, with the primary field reflecting both the party’s embrace of Donald Trump and internal unease about the general-election appeal of that strategy.
Rep. Mike Collins, a first-term congressman from Georgia’s 10th District, has positioned himself as a full-throated ally of the former president, calling himself a “warrior” for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. The approach is a standard credential for Republican primary contenders, but some of Collins’s own supporters have expressed doubt about whether it can succeed in a general election where Democrats have shown growing strength.
Gary Waldrep, the chairman of a local Republican party committee, told the Associated Press that he asked Collins at a recent campaign stop how he intended to win over at least a few “middle-of-the-road” voters who may have been turned off by Trump. “I watch the polls just like everybody else,” Waldrep said. “I know it’s going to be close.”
The exchange underscores a broader Republican anxiety about the party’s prospects in Georgia. Democrats have won two consecutive U.S. Senate runoffs in the state, with Ossoff and Sen. Raphael Warnock both winning their seats in 2021 contests after the 2020 general election failed to produce a majority winner. The state has also backed Democratic presidential candidates since 2020.
Once regarded by Republicans as a potentially easy pickup, Ossoff is no longer considered a vulnerable incumbent. His campaign has built a substantial war chest, and his team has pointed to the Democratic infrastructure that has turned Georgia into a battleground state.
The winner of Tuesday’s primary will face Ossoff in the November general election, a race expected to be one of the most competitive Senate contests in the country.