The Georgia Senate race, which was once seen as a prime pickup opportunity for Republicans, has unraveled amid a contentious primary.
While Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., leads in public polling for the primary, Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., and former football coach Derek Dooley are fighting to force a runoff in the May 19 primary, which would extend the primary into June.
President Donald Trump has yet to endorse a candidate.
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff has amassed an eight-figure campaign war chest and leads all three candidates in general election polling, even though Trump carried Georgia in the 2024 presidential election.
"Jon Ossoff has $24 million. Jon Ossoff is on TV all of the time, carefully articulating his positions, grilling Tulsi Gabbard — really being methodical," Ryan Mahoney, a GOP strategist, said to Politico.
"He has tons of resources — great name ID, a lot of exposure — while the Republicans are fighting against each other, trying to see who can break out and ultimately be the nominee," Mahoney added.
Republicans have blamed the race on Gov. Brian Kemp declining to run for Ossoff's seat and criticized the National Republican Senatorial Committee for not recruiting better candidates or working to clear the field, Politico reported.
"It's a mess that could have been much less messy if they had figured this out six months ago," a Georgia Republican strategist told Politico.
The three Republican candidates have engaged with the White House to get Trump's endorsement, Politico reported.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on whether Trump would endorse in the race.
Trump and Kemp have not always seen eye to eye, with the president endorsing a primary challenge to Kemp in 2022 that the governor easily fought back.
Kemp has endorsed Dooley.
"It's no secret that the profile of a candidate that President Trump would prefer is much different than the profile of a candidate that Governor Kemp would prefer," another Republican strategist told Politico.
"The nexus between those two just made it very hard, if not impossible, to come out with a consensus candidate," the strategist added.
Nick Puglia, a spokesperson for the NRSC, called Ossoff "the most vulnerable incumbent on the map."
Georgia "has been and remains a top state for Republicans to expand President Trump's Senate Majority," Puglia said to Politico.
The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, lists the race as "toss-up."
Sam Barron ✉
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