US midterm primaries 2026: Mike Collins projected to win Republican nomination for US Senate in Georgia – as it happened

The Associated Press projects that Georgia congressman Mike Collins will win the Republican US Senate nomination for the US Senate, defeating former football coach Derek Dooley . Collins, who earned a very late endorsement from Donald Trump despite reported concerns from the president about his hardline anti-abortion position, will face incumbent Democrat Jon Ossoff in November for a seat that could be crucial to Democratic hopes to recapture the Senate. A trucking company owner and son of a congressman, Collins campaigns as a self-described “Maga warrior.” Ossoff, first elected in 2020, has blasted Trump as a “national embarrassment” who is using the presidency to enrich himself and his family. The 39-year-old is the lone Senate Democrat running in a state that Trump won in 2024. Republicans have not won a US Senate race in Georgia since Trump was first elected in 2016. Ahead of the runoff, Ossoff referred to Collins as “a congressman who’s only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman” and “the congressman already under investigation for paying your tax dollars to his criminal staffer’s girlfriend for apparently no work”.