Georgia runoff: Republican voters choose Trump-backed conservative to face Jon Ossoff

Georgia’s Republican primary runoff voters chose US representative Mike Collins over former college football coach Derek Dooley to lead the party’s bid to challenge US senator and rising Democratic star Jon Ossoff in November’s midterm elections.They also selected billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson over Trump-backed lieutenant governor Burt Jones to face Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms in November, after a bruising election campaign that led to libel litigation and federal challenges to Georgia election law.Ossoff, who has represented Georgia in the US Senate since 2021, has made waves this year by delivering a series of caustic takes on Donald Trump’s administration. He will now face Collins in the race to retain the competitive seat.Collins, a trucking executive and one-time “freedom caucus” conservative endorsed by Trump, has served in the US House of Representatives since 2023. His father, Mac Collins, served in the House from 1993 to 2002.An anti-abortion hardliner with a history of incendiary social media commentary, Collins has vigorously denied the legitimacy of the 2020 election and defended January 6 rioters.Dooley is the son of legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley. After earning a law degree from UGA, he began working his way through the college coaching ranks, eventually taking the University of Tennessee to three consecutive losing seasons before being fired.Dooley is close friends with outgoing governor Brian Kemp, who had backed Dooley with his endorsement, political staff and fundraising appeals.Jackson will represent the GOP in the Georgia gubernatorial contest.The campaign has been brutal by Republican primary standards in Georgia. On the last day of the legislative session, Jones pushed a bill to bar anyone with healthcare contracts with the state government from running for public office. The unsuccessful legislation directly targeted Jackson, CEO of healthcare staffing firm Jackson Healthcare, which also provides anesthesia management, hospital management and healthcare information technology. Jones has accused Jackson of profiting from state contracts worth $1bn and that one of his firms, Locum Tenens, profited by “recruiting for Planned Parenthood” and “helping doctors perform transgender procedures on minors”.Last week, Jones’ family gas company filed a $100m defamation lawsuit against Jackson, accusing Jackson of using Jones Petroleum Company branding in ads and websites to make false claims about Jones.Litigation has cut both ways. After Jones began attacking Jackson’s healthcare businesses in February, Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit, describing Jones’s accusations as a lie.Jackson also filed a lawsuit in February challenging a state law that allows Jones to chair a leadership committee that can raise and spend unlimited contributions for his gubernatorial campaign, while Jackson remains bound by traditional fundraising caps. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the leadership committee is likely to be illegal.Jones, a stalwart conservative, has long held Donald Trump’s favor and helped lead the president’s campaign effort in Georgia in 2024. The lieutenant governor was among the “fake electors” initially indicted by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis in the election interference case, but a Fulton County judge ordered Jones to be dropped from the case after Willis hosted a fundraiser for his Democratic opponent.Jackson’s entry into the race as a political newcomer upended the contest with at least $50m of his own money poured into provocative campaign advertising during the primary. His overwhelming media presence sidelined both attorney general Chris Carr and secretary of state Brad Raffensperger, both of whom endorsed Jackson in the runoff.Kemp, a Republican, endorsed Jones on Sunday, a last-minute move in a state that favors early voting. Turnout has been very light, which is characteristic of primary runoffs, but more than 300,000 Georgia voters had already cast a ballot in the Republican primary runoff by Sunday.“Whether it was during his service in the state senate or as lieutenant governor, Burt Jones has been a strong, trusted ally in those victories for the people of our state,” Kemp said.“I have always been the outsider in this race and still am, but mark my words: I’ll be President Trump’s favorite governor and I’ll build on Governor Kemp’s legacy here in Georgia,” Jackson said in a post Monday on X, replying to Kemp’s endorsement.