Georgia Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins has announced his bid to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026.
Collins, who is currently serving his second term in Congress, is joining a growing list of Republican hopefuls in the upcoming Primary race. Ossoff is running unopposed from the Democratic side.
As a U.S. Representative, Collins is perhaps best known for introducing legislation that requires the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency to detain undocumented migrants who are charged with theft.
The bill came on the heels of the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was brutally raped and murdered by Venezuelan undocumented migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra in 2024.
In a July 8 video posted to social media, Collins said Ossoff “must go.”
“He certainly doesn’t represent the vast majority of Georgians,” Collins said. “He certainly doesn’t represent the Georgia values that I cherish so much.”
Ossoff was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2021, alongside Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, which gave Democrats control of the U.S. Senate during the Biden administration.
In the video, Collins took aim at both Ossoff and Warnock.
“We deserve to have two U.S. Senators who are out there fighting for us, and protecting us, not some woke overlords or some far-leftwing California donor base,” Collins said.
Republican U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter has already announced he is also running. Former college football coach Derek Dooley is also a potential entrant, while Collins has been reportedly considering jumping into the race since Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced he won’t run, according to the Associated Press.
Georgia Republican Insurance Commissioner John King announced his U.S. Senate bid in May, but has since dropped out to pursue another term as Commissioner, according to the Georgia Recorder.
“I got into the U.S. Senate race to beat Jon Ossoff, not distract from the mission,” King said in a statement at the time. “Right now, it’s clear there’s little path forward to the nomination, so today I’m suspending my campaign.”
Collins, who is running as a President Donald Trump ally, also noted in the video that he will be speaking to the President about the race, despite Trump not yet endorsing a candidate.
“I am going to continue to talk with President Trump and his team just about where we can be the best, beneficial, most help in this mission to make sure we get a Republican in the U.S. Senate from Georgia,” Collins said.
Collins, who currently represents Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, has not been without controversy, and was temporarily banned from X after appearing to support antisemitic tropes and the deaths of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
Ossoff is a tough competitor and has millions in his campaign coffers, raising more than any other Senate candidate since 2021. Since the beginning of 2025, Ossoff has raked in approximately $21 million in donations and had a total of nearly $15.5 million on hand as of June 30, according to the Federal Election Commission.
