Republicans in Georgia are embroiled in an increasingly bitter internal fight that threatens their chances of unseating Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in 2026.
According to Fox News, the race is considered one of the most competitive in the country, and the seat — which Ossoff won by just 1.2% in 2021 — is viewed as essential for the GOP to protect its Senate majority.
But instead of rallying behind a unified strategy, Georgia Republicans are locked in a public feud over last week’s government shutdown and the crowded primary forming to take on Ossoff.
The latest clash began when a political group aligned with Gov. Brian Kemp released an ad slamming Republican Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, alongside Ossoff.
The ad claimed the trio “failed and shut down the government” and argued that “career politicians” are to blame — positioning Kemp-backed “political outsider” Derek Dooley, a former Tennessee football coach, as the answer.
The backlash from within the GOP was immediate. Many Republicans denounced the ad as an attack on President Donald Trump’s messaging that Democrats were responsible for the shutdown.
Collins fired back on X, accusing Kemp’s nonprofit of using “dark money to attack Republican members of the Georgia delegation by parroting the anti-Trump Democrat lie that ‘Republicans are to blame for the shutdown.’”
He argued that he and Carter worked to keep the government open, pointing to their votes for a clean continuing resolution.
Days later, Collins’ campaign escalated the fight with a Veterans Day ad hammering Dooley for admitting he “probably went 20 years” without voting in a presidential election — including five elections in which Trump was on the ballot. The ad contrasted Dooley’s absence from the polls with military service members who “find a way to vote absentee.”
Dooley accused Collins of “using Veterans Day to score political points” and said he had voted for Trump in 2024. He framed himself as a candidate focused on “honesty, humility, respect for all Georgians.”
The Carter campaign also jumped in, calling the attack ad a “desperate attempt” by Dooley to revive his candidacy. Spokesperson Harley Adsit accused Dooley of “pulling from Jon Ossoff’s playbook” and said Carter “proudly voted to keep the government open.”
Collins piled on in a separate interview, calling Dooley “an odd fellow” and questioning both his loyalty to Trump and his understanding of federal politics. “It is certainly not a winning formula for next November,” Collins said.
Dooley’s camp, meanwhile, has insisted he is the GOP’s strongest candidate. Spokesman Connor Whitney said Dooley has the “clear momentum” in the race and is focused entirely on “blasting Jon Ossoff’s failed record.”
Outside observers within the party see trouble brewing. One Georgia GOP strategist warned that every day Republicans spend attacking each other is a “day that Jon Ossoff has won.”
The strategist argued that Dooley is “running out of time” to prove he can compete and lacks a compelling case against candidates with established records.
But Tea Party activist Deborah Dooley — no relation to the candidate — argued that Derek Dooley is the only contender with a credible path to beating Ossoff. She defended the shutdown messaging and said Democrats are already preparing attacks that would weaken Collins in a general election.
Georgia Democrats, watching the brawl from afar, see an opportunity. Party spokesman Devon Cruz said the infighting proves Republicans are headed for a “long, nasty primary.”
“No matter who limps out of the primary,” Cruz said, “the eventual nominee will be badly bruised and battered for a general election.”
With the primary still months away, the GOP’s internal war shows no signs of cooling — and Ossoff may be the one benefiting most.
