Ossoff wins reelection to Georgia Senate seat

Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has won reelection in Georgia, defeating Republican Rep. Mike Collins in a nationally watched race that both parties viewed as important to control of the Senate, NBC News and CBS News project.

The victory keeps a closely contested seat in Democratic hands. Ossoff, 39, was the only Democratic senator seeking reelection in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024, CBS News reported. He first entered the Senate in 2021 after one of two Democratic runoff victories in Georgia.

Collins, 59, won the Republican nomination in a June runoff after a contentious primary, according to CBS News. A trucking business owner who has represented Georgia in the House since 2023, he sought to portray Ossoff as out of touch with the state’s values. Republicans had seen Georgia as a promising opportunity to gain a seat, but Ossoff led in most public polls and held a substantial fundraising advantage, NBC News reported.

The campaigns clashed over the economy, high consumer prices and the records of Trump and former President Joe Biden. Ossoff linked Collins to Trump and pressed him to defend the president’s tariffs and the war in Iran. Collins blamed policies from Biden’s administration for high costs. “That Bidenomics, that Green New Deal my opponent voted for, that’s where this inflation came from,” he said at their first Senate debate, according to NBC News.

Collins defended the war, echoing the administration’s argument that Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, NBC News reported. He also called the tariffs “fair” in the context of Georgia’s ports and trade with China. “Savannah Port and Brunswick Port have been on my mind,” he said during a debate last month.

Personal disputes also marked the contest. Ossoff raised social media posts in which Collins’ son-in-law promoted white nationalist material, as well as messages between a former Collins staffer and avowed white supremacist Nick Fuentes, NBC News reported. CBS News said the former staffer reportedly shared Nazi and Ku Klux Klan images on social media.

“You’ve hired half the Third Reich,” Ossoff told Collins at a debate last month, according to NBC News. Collins said he opposed racism and white nationalism. Referring to his son-in-law, he said, “I don’t care where the source is, and I tell him that.”

Collins also pointed to contributions to a pro-Ossoff super PAC from billionaire Reid Hoffman, whose name appeared in the Epstein files, NBC News reported. Ossoff responded that Collins had voted to block their full release.

Ossoff’s campaign speeches drew attention from national Democrats during 2026, prompting discussion of a possible presidential run in 2028, NBC News reported. At a debate, Ossoff said he would serve a full second Senate term.