Trump-backed Rep. Mike Collins projected to win Georgia GOP Senate primary runoff

The 39-year-old senator has become an internet sensation for Democrats seeking a 2028 contender. He says he’s focused on winning a second term in November.

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Jon Ossoff of Georgia is the only Senate Democrat seeking re-election in a state President Trump won in 2024. Credit... Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

By Reid J. Epstein and Patricia Mazzei

Reid J. Epstein has reported on Jon Ossoff since 2017. He reported from Washington. Patricia Mazzei reported from Atlanta and Sandersville, Ga.

June 17, 2026 Updated 9:42 a.m. ET

As the most vulnerable Democratic senator seeking re-election this year, Jon Ossoff of Georgia would rather do most other things than talk about whether he wants to run for president in 2028.

A lot has gone right for Mr. Ossoff over the last 19 months. The first-term senator has proved to be a formidable fund-raiser. His fiery rhetoric accusing President Trump of corruption has drawn an online audience of millions. Gov. Brian Kemp, the state’s most popular Republican, passed on running against him.

And on Tuesday, Georgia Republicans nominated Representative Mike Collins, a Trump loyalist, to face Mr. Ossoff in the fall. The Democrat has already dubbed Mr. Collins a presidential “puppet” after working quietly for months to undermine Derek Dooley, the Republican who lost.

Despite his relentless disavowals that he has any interest in seeking the presidency, Mr. Ossoff is now regularly mentioned as a potential 2028 contender. There’s good reason for him not to talk about it: Georgia remains a difficult state for Democrats to win, and Mr. Ossoff, the only Democratic incumbent seeking re-election in a state that Mr. Trump won in 2024, can’t afford to turn away from the immediate challenge.

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Mr. Ossoff has attracted large crowds to his rallies, and large online followings with clips of his fiery speeches criticizing President Trump. Credit... Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times

Mr. Ossoff has done none of that, instead stumping around Georgia and insisting that’s where his focus lies. Mr. Ossoff has repeatedly denied any desire to run for president — “zero interest,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

Yet his argument — that the Trump administration is fundamentally corrupt and threatens American democracy — is resonating on the ground and online, with a helpful boost from his Senate campaign.

His rallies are filmed and produced by his campaign team and have turned his digressions about the perils of the Trump administration into viral content for a growing audience of admirers. Footage is quickly circulated on social media. The broad reach of the clips has created for Mr. Ossoff the sort of exposure other Democrats can only dream of.

At a rally in February, Mr. Ossoff coined the term “Epstein class” to define Mr. Trump and his big-donor allies. The phrase instantly caught on with Democrats. At another rally, he targeted Mr. Trump, his family and his administration as “corrupt” and uninterested in helping regular Americans afford gas and groceries.

Even Hasan Piker, the left-wing, pro-Palestinian streamer, recently ranked Mr. Ossoff , a moderate Jewish senator, third on his presidential wish list, behind only progressive Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California.

Mr. Ossoff wasted no time in framing Mr. Collins as unacceptable. After the results were in Tuesday night, the senator called his general election opponent “a notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist currently under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars.”

Mr. Collins, in his victory speech, called Mr. Ossoff “a far-left liberal” and said the contest would be a challenge. “Jon Ossoff is going to have millions and millions of dollars poured in here from his New York and California buddies, the political establishment, the mainstream media and the global elites,” Mr. Collins told supporters.

The liberal attraction to Mr. Ossoff comes at a moment when his party, with no majorities in Congress and a dysfunctional and cash-strapped national committee, suffers from a leadership vacuum. Even with a score or more of potential presidential candidates , Democrats across the political spectrum are pining for a presidential contender around whom they can build a movement.

Mr. Ossoff has no signature policy agenda; he has been largely focused on Senate oversight of the Trump administration. He does not mix it up on social media as many of his Senate colleagues do. He sometimes conjures the winning political style of former President Barack Obama, from the cadence of his speeches to the stylized “O” logos at his rallies.

Yet his singular idea for what his party’s direction should be is resonating: Take the country back from Mr. Trump. And he delivers his searing critiques in a way that few other Democrats have been able to do, with crisp lines that travel well on social media.

Mr. Trump: “A failed president and a national disgrace.” The presid…