Five men seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff shared a debate stage Sunday, each seeking to distinguish himself to Georgia voters.
The frontrunners are Congressman Mike Collins, Congressman Buddy Carter and former football coach Derek Dooley. Jonathan McColumn, a pastor and retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army reserve, and real estate developer John Coyne were also at the debate.
Early voting starts Monday for the May 19 primaries, which will determine the Democratic and Republican party candidates up and down the ballot in November’s general election.
The debate was hosted at Georgia Public Broadcasting as part of the Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. To watch the full hour-long debate along with other 2026 debates, visit the Atlanta Press Club’s YouTube Channel.
Dooley seeks to walk abortion tightrope
Without going after his opponents by name, Dooley focused his criticism on Congress as a whole.
“It’s time we start sending a different kind of leadership to Washington, because Congress is not working for the people the way it used to,” he said. “We’ve seen a rise in careerism. We’ve seen a rise in corruption, but mostly it’s the inaction, where we’re yelling and screaming, and we’re not working together to deliver results for the people of Georgia.”
Dooley is the son of famed University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, a legend among Bulldog fans. He spent his career in the coaching field, but did not achieve the same kind of record his dad did.
He’s sought to run as a middle ground candidate who can appeal both to Trump-supporting Republicans and more moderate members of both parties.
This Senate run is his first foray into the political world. He entered the race with the support and backing of Gov. Brian Kemp, who enjoys high approval ratings in Georgia but who decided not to run for the seat.
Supporters say Dooley’s blank slate nature puts him above the two sitting congressmen, who general election voters may view as too closely tied to the Trump administration’s unpopular policies.
But before he can test that theory, he’ll have to make it to a general election. Opponents call him a Johnny-come-lately to the MAGA movement. He did not vote in the 2016 or 2020 elections when Trump was on the ballot.
A debate question about abortion highlighted the balancing act between appealing to rightwing GOP primary voters and a more balanced general electorate.
When asked about abortion, Dooley said he supports the decision being left up to states but appeared uneasy to give his opinion on Georgia’s six-week abortion ban.
“What I can tell you is, as a federal U.S. senator, that I think that the federal government has no role,” he said. “The heartbeat bill has been the law of the land for six years, and it’s going to continue that way, and the federal government shouldn’t intervene.”
When pressed, Dooley indicated that he would have handled things differently, but did not elaborate.
“It’s not the way I would have written it … but listen, that’s the law of the land. It’s been that way for six years, and I just don’t think the U.S. Senate and federal government should weigh in.”
Fireworks over ethics investigation
Collins and Carter mostly trained their attacks on Ossoff, except for a couple of heated moments in which Carter brought up a congressional investigation into allegations that Collins used government funds to benefit a top aide.
“If taxpayers can’t trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?” Carter said.
Collins called the allegation a “nothing burger.”
“It’s a mindless complaint that anyone can file,” Collins said. “But I find it ironic that a career politician is talking about ethics.”
Collins accused Carter of supporting liberal policies and of enriching himself in office. According to data from OpenSecrets, Carter’s net worth grew from $20.8 million when he took office in 2015 to $33.2 million in 2019.
“If you want a conservative, he’s not your buddy,” Collins added.
Carter said he’s the candidate with the best chance to win.
“Mike, if you’re our candidate, we lose,” he said. “You’re under federal investigation, I’m telling you, and the Democrats will eat that up, and we will lose again.”
Collins, who is the president of a trucking business, was first elected in 2022 to the 10th District, which includes suburbs east of Atlanta, Athens and much of rural and suburban east Georgia.
He touts passage of the Laken Riley Act, which requires immigration officials to detain immigrants without bail for specific crimes. Riley was a 22-year-old student who was killed in Collins’ district by a man who was in the country illegally. It was the first bill Trump signed in his second term.
Polling consistently places Collins at the top, but below the 50%-plus-one threshold to win the primary without a runoff.
Collins’ supporters call him a conservative workhorse with an avuncular personality, but opponents say the current investigation, his closeness to Trump and a history of divisive social media posts makes him vulnerable in a general election.
Carter is a pharmacist who operated Carter’s Pharmacy Inc. for over 30 years.
He took office in 2015 after previously serving as mayor of Pooler and in the Georgia House and Senate.
The 1st District includes the Georgia coast from Savannah past Brunswick to the border with Florida and runs west past Waycross.
Carter’s proponents say his years of previous experience in elected office make him the most qualified candidate.
Opponents say the fact that he has spent significant sums of his own money on the race but remains in a fairly distant second in most polls suggests he won’t be able to catch on with voters. His alignment with Trump could also spell trouble in a general election with a voter base more opposed to the administration.
Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Devon Cruz called the debate an “audition” for President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
“Carter, Collins, and Dooley have spent their entire campaigns posturing as Trump’s puppets, backing his harmful agenda that has Georgians struggling with higher costs on everything from groceries to health care,” Cruz said in a statement. “Georgians deserve so much better, and we’ll work to make sure none of the candidates on stage get anywhere near a United States Senate seat.”
Despite endorsing in Georgia races including for the next governor and the successors for Carter and Collins’ congressional seats, the president has not picked a favorite in Georgia’s U.S. Senate race.
