The Georgia Senate GOP primary is devolving into bitter infighting, prompted by a string of controversial ads that are catching the attention of party leadership.
But don’t expect an end to the messiness anytime soon.
Speaking on the Georgia political beef, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that “until we have a nominee, we’re not able to engage fully in that race.”
Translation: Party leadership isn’t getting involved in the primary and is planning on letting Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Derek Dooley fight it out until May 2026.
“Primaries tend to get competitive,” Thune said. “But we still think in Georgia, once the dust settles there and the smoke clears, that that’s gonna be a really good opportunity for us.”
The back and forth. First, a Gov. Brian Kemp-linked nonprofit ran an ad earlier this month attacking Carter and Collins for the government shutdown. Kemp has endorsed Dooley, a former college football coach making his first run for elected office.
The top Senate Republican campaign groups condemned the ad — which lumped Carter and Collins together with Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) — as a distraction from their stance that Democrats were to blame for the shutdown.
Dooley’s primary opponents were similarly angry.
“[That ad] did get people upset. It’s unfortunate that we’ve got some of our own doing the Democrats’ dirty work,” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) told us. “It was very disappointing.”
The Republican campaigns also sparred on Veterans Day. Collins’ camp released a social media video that started with a tribute to military service before attacking Dooley for his history of not voting. Dooley hit back and accused Collins of “using Veterans Day to score political points.”
This is exactly what Republicans feared would happen when Kemp, the party’s preferred candidate, passed on running for the Senate seat in May.
Collins’ campaign also drew heat last week for pushing a deepfake ad featuring a deceptive edit of Ossoff. The video raised alarms in the state and even drew criticism from Dooley’s camp.
“The Republican field is a mess, but I’m running like I’m behind,” Ossoff told us.
The Money Game: Dooley raised $1.9 million in Q3, Collins raised $1.1 million in his campaign — plus a further $800,000 in his victory fund — and Carter raised $940,000. Ossoff raised $12 million in the third quarter and has $21 million on hand.
