Sitting U.S. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) emerged as the winner of the Georgia GOP primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday but will face a runoff election against Derek Dooley on June 16 to secure an outright nomination.
Collins finished with nearly 41% of the vote, while Dooley received approximately 30%. “Thank you, Georgia. Love y’all. 28 more days of putting the hammer down!” Collins wrote on X after securing the most votes in the primary.
Collins was considered the favorite among Republican voters and led polls by an average of 11.5 points between April and May. He also received an unofficial endorsement from President Donald Trump in February, who described Collins as “a good guy” in a video that garnered nearly one million views on X. However, Collins’ lead narrowed from about +25 in mid-February to just +14 by the end of the month.
Collins voted against aid to Ukraine in October 2023 but supported Israeli military aid during the same period. Dooley, a former football coach for the Tennessee Volunteers, was consistently second or third in polling and received an endorsement from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R). Dooley thanked his voters on Tuesday: “This campaign has been about putting the people of Georgia first and sending a new type of leader up to D.C. who’s in it for the right reasons, and that’s to serve.”
Third place went to Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.), a former pharmacist and mayor who received approximately 25% of the vote. Other candidates included businessman John Coyne and Jonathan McColumn, a retired U.S. Army Reserve brigadier general and pastor, both of whom garnered less than 5% of the vote.
The winner of Collins vs. Dooley will face Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in November, who went unopposed in the Democrat primary and has been in office since 2021.
