ATLANTA, GEORGIA – The battle for Georgia’s Senate seat has quickly emerged as one of the most consequential Republican primaries of 2026, a contest that party insiders say has splintered into three overlapping fights — the donor primary, the White House primary, and the voter primary, with President Donald Trump’s endorsement looming over them all.
The candidates at a glance
Three Republicans are competing for the chance to challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in 2026. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), a second-term congressman and trucking executive, is pitching himself as an unapologetic fighter who sponsored the Laken Riley Act and leans into fiery culture-war rhetoric. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), a six-term Savannah pharmacist-turned-lawmaker, has pledged to pour at least $10 million of his fortune into the race and brands himself a proven “MAGA warrior.” And then there’s Derek Dooley, the former Tennessee football coach with no political resume but the full backing of Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and his powerful network.
The White House Primary
No dynamic looms larger than Donald Trump’s endorsement. All three candidates are openly competing for his support, aware that it could reshape the race overnight.
Collins has leaned heavily on his Trump-aligned record, both legislatively and stylistically. He boasts that he “stood shoulder to shoulder” with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in pushing the GOP’s marquee legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while his combative online presence has cemented his MAGA credentials.
Advisers say his tireless retail work across the state has been noticed in Trump’s orbit.
“Mike has relentlessly worked this state since he announced his campaign, his network extends into all of Georgia’s 159 counties, and it continues to show at grassroots events across the state,” said someone with deep ties to Trumpworld.
Collins’ allies argue that his reputation as a fighter, paired with his legislative record, including authorship of the Laken Riley Act, makes him a natural heir to Trump’s America First mantle.
And early polling has begun to reflect their position. Collins led the field with 27% of Republican midterm voters, followed by Carter at 20% and Dooley at 8%, according to an online poll conducted by the TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics for the League of American Workers in early August. The closely watched primary contest is still wide open, however, with 39% of voters undecided about their preferred candidate to unseat Ossoff.
Carter has been equally explicit, framing his candidacy as an extension of Trump’s America First movement. He often reminds voters that he nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, calling him “the greatest negotiator of all time.” He has made it clear that winning Trump’s support is central to his campaign.
“I’ve been in touch with his team. We hope that we will be getting the endorsement sooner than later. I believe in President Trump, I’ve supported him from the start, and I will continue to support him and his America First policies,” he told the Washington Examiner in an interview on Friday.
Carter has also emphasized his role in crafting Trump’s sweeping “Big Beautiful Bill.” He notes that his subcommittee was tasked with finding the bulk of the bill’s deficit savings, a responsibility he says proved both his conservative credentials and his ability to deliver.
Dooley enters the endorsement contest from a different angle. Kemp’s team is banking on his blank-slate appeal, arguing his outsider status gives him space to craft a fresh image for voters.
At his first real stump speech, delivered in Peachtree City as the opening act before Vice President JD Vance’s visit last week, Dooley leaned heavily on football and Trump analogies. He told supporters that “leadership” defined both coaching and politics and pointed to Trump and Vance as examples of strength.
He praised Trump’s record on border security, tax cuts, and foreign policy, casting the former president as the ultimate outsider who “didn’t accept business as usual in Washington and delivered results.”
Supporters say this message, combined with his lack of political baggage and famous family name, could make him an attractive foil to Ossoff.
“We need a candidate who can make this election a referendum on Jon Ossoff, who’s voted time and time again for open borders, for budget busting bills that drive up costs, against Israel, and for insane things like letting men play women’s sports,” said an operative affiliated with outside efforts supporting Dooley. “There’s only one Republican who can do that and doesn’t have enough political baggage to sink the Titanic: Derek Dooley. He’s the only one who can make this race completely about Jon Ossoff and his total failure.”
Still, Dooley has to demonstrate he can sharpen his political presence, particularly in a field where the other two candidates are sitting members of Congress who already enjoy built-in platforms and exposure on Fox News and conservative media.
For now, Trump’s circle appears content to watch the race develop. Fundraising numbers this fall and early polling will weigh heavily on the decision. Sources familiar with the endorsement protocol at the White House describe the process as a mix of instinct and evidence: polling trends, donor enthusiasm, Fox News appearances, and grassroots energy all play a role. Until those metrics sharpen, the candidates are essentially auditioning for Trump’s nod.
Voter impressions
The candidates are generating sharply contrasting reactions. At a Peachtree City rally with Vance, the difference was striking. When Vance introduced the three Senate contenders by name, the crowd remained silent for Dooley, offered polite applause for Carter, and roared for Collins, with supporters waving signs emblazoned with his name throughout the warehouse-style venue.
“The Vice President poll-tested it. He asked the audience, mentioned all three names, and one got a lot of claps,” quipped a Georgia Republican operative.
Collins didn’t just command the room once inside. Before the event began, he worked the lines outside the industrial refrigeration plant, shaking hands, taking selfies, and chatting with attendees waiting in the summer heat to get in. On the drive south from Atlanta, his presence was visible, too: multiple yards along the route displayed Collins’ campaign signs, a reminder that his network is spreading well beyond his home district.
A long list of endorsements is reinforcing that enthusiasm. Despite never serving in the state legislature himself, Collins has lined up backing from a slate of Georgia senators, including Lee Anderson, Max Burns, Marty Harbin, Shawn Still, Russ Goodman, Rick Williams, Carden Summers, and Clint Dixon, along with House leaders like Majority Whip James Burchett and Floor Leader Matthew Gambill. His campaign points to the mix of grassroots buzz and institutional support as proof he’s turning energy into organizational muscle.
Dooley, meanwhile, has been crisscrossing the state to introduce himself, making stops in more than 20 counties since launching his campaign earlier this month. On a visit to rural South Georgia, where farming and agribusiness drive the local economy, he was asked about the H-2A visa program, which allows farms to bring in seasonal foreign labor. Dooley admitted he wasn’t familiar with it, a moment that quickly circulated among GOP operatives.
On The Georgia Gang, FOX 5 Atlanta’s weekly public affairs program, Phil Kent, CEO of JAMES Magazine, called it “stunning,” noting that agriculture is Georgia’s top industry and saying the exchange raised questions about whether Dooley was prepared for a statewide campaign.
Others were more forgiving, suggesting the stumble reflects his outsider status rather than a fatal flaw. “Look, he still has a lot of time, and he’s still learning, and that’s okay. He’s doing his research, meeting with important people in the state, and asking questions,” said one Georgia Republican supporting Dooley.
Carter has been steadily working to expand his profile, appearing at local events and shaking hands with attendees on the final day of the Republican National Committee’s summer meeting in Atlanta. Still, strategists say he faces structural hurdles, especially since he has roots in the historic port city of Savannah rather than in the population center of Atlanta.
“It is notoriously difficult for a Republican, for anyone from the coast, to win statewide, which feeds into the name ID problem,” said one Georgia Republican familiar with campaigns across the state.
Carter doesn’t dispute the challenge. “The challenge for us, being from the coast, is to get better known outside of our district,” he told the Washington Examiner. “But you know, as they say, there are two Georgias, there’s Atlanta and everywhere else, and we’re spending a lot of time in Atlanta.”
The donor primary: Kemp’s grip, Collins’s push, Carter’s wealth
Georgia’s donor fight reflects the deep split inside the state’s GOP. Kemp’s orbit has long dominated Atlanta boardrooms and suburban bundlers, and with Dooley, that network is back in action.
Just last week, Hardworking Americans, the federal PAC aligned with Kemp, pulled in more than half a million dollars at a reception hosted by Don and Stacey Leebern, drawing some of the state’s most influential contributors. It was a reminder that even as Dooley is still introducing himself to voters and working to sharpen his political presence, the governor’s network can summon massive resources overnight.
Carter, meanwhile, brings something few candidates can: the ability to self-fund on a massive scale. In early July, his campaign reported raising $1.1M over three months, and he personally loaned another $2M, part of what aides call a down payment on his vow to spend at least $10M of his own fortune. “I’ve been very blessed in my life, and this is very important to me,” Carter said. “So yeah, I’ve got skin in the game.”
The biggest uncertainty may still be Collins. He has impressed by winning over some longtime Kemp allies in the legislature, a surprise to insiders who expected the governor’s hold to remain firm, but whether that political support can be converted into real fundraising strength is far from clear.
“The fundraising is the last piece of the puzzle for Mike that they are going to have to solve,” said one Georgia Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity to reflect candidly on the race. “If he posts a decent number this quarter, I could see a scenario where a lot of other things start to fall into place for him.”
“That seems to be the last remaining question from folks in D.C., in the White House, at the NRSC — can he raise the money? He’s got the political. He’s got the Trump bona fides, he’s got the work ethic, he’s got the legislative record. Can he raise the money? If he can, he is going to be the front-runner, if he isn’t already,” the person said.
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For many in Georgia politics, the primary has become a proxy fight over the GOP’s future. Kemp’s orbit views Dooley as a vehicle to showcase the reach of its political operation, while Collins and Carter are both vying to be seen as the truest heirs to Trump’s America First brand.
The outcome will ripple beyond Georgia, signaling whether the GOP grassroots still prefer candidates closely aligned with Trump, or whether a contender without an extensive history of ties to him can still catch on. Either way, Trump’s decision will be pivotal. A single endorsement could scramble the field, decide which candidate consolidates momentum, and shape the national map heading into 2026 and beyond.