Georgia Republicans are still looking for a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff after none of the candidates in Tuesday’s primary won a majority of the vote. A result that was largely anticipated with the number of candidates in the race.
The top two finishers -- Rep. Mike Collins and former college football coach Derek Dooley -- have advanced to a June 16 runoff.
Dooley, an attorney who coached football at the University of Tennessee, got the endorsement of outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
He is also the son of the late University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley.
Playing on the role of outsider, Dooley argues he is the best chance to unseat Ossoff
“A vote for Mike Collins is a vote for Jon Ossoff for the next six years, but a vote for me is new leadership in the U.S. Senate because we’re going on offense,” Dooley said.
Collins, an ally of President Donald Trump who represents a district east of Atlanta, owns a trucking business and has represented Georgia in the House since 2023.
“You know, I started this campaign almost 10 months ago with a mission, and that was to deliver Georgia a workhorse. Someone who has been in tough fights and come out on the top, and someone that has always put the people of Georgia first in everything they’ve done, and y’all, tonight we are one step closer,” Collins said.
Rep. Buddy Carter, another high-profile Republican candidate, tried to play up his conservative record on Capitol Hill, but he finished third behind Collins and Dooley and did not qualify for the June runoff.
“I wish them success,” Carter said after the results came in on Tuesday. “This is important. We need to have a senator from the state of Georgia who has conservative values and who will represent the values of the state of Georgia. Obviously, very disappointed the votes just weren’t there.”
Southeast Georgia & Statewide election results
On the Democratic side, Ossoff faces no opposition as he seeks reelection by positioning himself as a staunch critic of President Donald Trump.
He’s the only senator from his party running for reelection in a state that Trump won in 2024, making his campaign among the most closely watched in the country as Democrats try to retake control of the chamber.
— Team Ossoff (@TeamOssoff) May 20, 2026
The senator has raised almost $60 million this cycle, dwarfing potential Republican rivals. He’s taken aim at the president and his sons for personal business dealings.
Ossoff calls political corruption a bipartisan problem and has pushed legislation to ban members of Congress from making individual stock trades.
Governor
The high-spending slugfest for the Republican nomination for governor will also go to a runoff in a race that Trump has been heavily involved in.
Healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson, who spent more than twice as much as any other primary candidate in Georgia history, might be new to the political arena, but he will continue in the race.
“Barely more than 100 days ago, we sent an earthquake through the political establishment when we entered the race. I think it’s safe to say we shook up the career politicians and the insiders to their core. (cheers, applause),” Jackson told his supporters. “But the job is not done. We have 28 days to finish it.”
Jackson garnered 32.5% of the vote, just behind top vote-getter Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, whom Trump endorsed and even campaigned for.
“We’re Georgians that believe in this state and believe that the great run that we’ve had for the last decade, it can continue on. It can continue on to the next, uh, eight years if y’all give me the opportunity,” Jones said.
Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, and Chris Carr, the state attorney general, finished third and fourth, respectively.
More than $113 million has been spent on advertising in the Republican primary for governor, with more than $61 million of that spent on Jackson’s campaign.
Jones argues that his conservative record as a state senator and lieutenant governor, combined with Trump’s support, should make him the clear choice for Republican voters.
Jackson is betting that his “outsider” pitch will win over anti-establishment conservatives.
Whoever wins June’s primary runoff will take on former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who easily cruised to victory in the Democratic primary on Tuesday.
A Democrat hasn’t been in the Georgia governor’s office since 1998.
“We are going to fight for every single vote in every county, in every corner of this state,” Bottoms said. “We are going to knock on doors and have conversations with people across the communities of this state, and we are going to build a Georgia that works for all of us.”
Bottoms, the only Black woman in the Democratic field, was endorsed by former President Joe Biden after serving in his administration.
US House
Four of Georgia’s 14 U.S. House districts are open, with Carter and Collins running for Senate, Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk stepping down and Democrat David Scott’s seat opening following his death in April.
Scott’s death scrambled the race in the majority-Black 13th District in Atlanta’s southern and eastern suburbs that had mainly been about attacking him as too old and too absent.
State Rep. Jasmine Clark, who raised the most money, beat out Gwinnett County school board Chair Everton Blair for the Democratic nomination and will face Republican Jonathan Chavez, who was unopposed.
Jim Kingston, the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, was the top Republican to take Carter’s seat in coastal Georgia’s 1st District and won the primary.
Kingston will face the winner of a runoff between Democratic candidates Joyce Griggs and Amanda Hollowell.
“This district deserves leadership focused on bringing people together and delivering real results. Over the coming weeks, we will continue having conversations in every corner of the district about the future we can build together,” Hollowell said in a statement.
In the 11th District northwest of Atlanta, Loudermilk announced his retirement and endorsed staffer Rob Adkerson, who will now face a runoff against neurologist John Cowan for the Republican nomination.
The winner will face Democratic candidate Chris Harden.
In the 10th District east of Atlanta, state Rep. Houston Gaines, the top Republican seeking to succeed Collins, won the nomination and will face Democratic candidate Pamela Delancy.
In northeast Georgia’s 9th District, three-term Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde fended off primary challenges from former Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon and Hall County Commissioner Gregg Poole.
He will take on Democratic candidate Caitlyn Gegen.
In the deep red 14th District, Trump endorsed Republican candidate Clay Fuller, who officially became the Republican nominee and will take on Democrat Shawn Harris, who was uncontested.
Fuller, who served as a district attorney, took on Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s seat when she left office. He won the special election to serve out the rest of her term.
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Amy is a former Associated Press reporter.