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By Jennifer Radcliffe
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Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff defeated Republican Representative Mike Collins on Tuesday, winning a second term in one of the cycle’s most closely watched Senate races.
Ossoff received nearly 59 percent of the vote to Collins' 41 percent in a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024.
"In sweeping and decisive victories, the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption, and incompetence of the failed lame duck president, Donald J. Trump," the 39-year-old Ossoff said in his victory speech.
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Collins, a trucking-company owner who represented Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, challenged him with Trump’s endorsement. But Republicans later redirected resources away from Georgia as Ossoff built a sizable polling advantage.
"I have had an amazing and blessed life," Collins told his supporters during his concession speech. "This has been an honor, an honor and a privilege, to serve under the leadership of the best president in my lifetime and that is President Donald J. Trump."
Ossoff, who was elected in a 2021 runoff, framed the race as a fight against political corruption and attacked tariffs and Republican-backed Medicaid reductions. Collins argued that tax cuts, deregulation, stricter immigration enforcement and expanded domestic energy production would lower costs and strengthen the economy.
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The race became particularly bitter. At an October debate, Ossoff called Collins a “bigot,” while Collins branded the senator a “trust-fund kid.” Democrats also focused on reported white-nationalist and antisemitic activity by people around Collins, including his son-in-law. Collins said he did not share those views and condemned hate speech. His campaign also drew criticism for releasing an AI-generated video that placed invented words in Ossoff’s mouth, although it included an AI disclaimer.
Ossoff’s victory preserves a Democratic-held seat in a state that remained competitive at the presidential level and could further elevate his national profile ahead of 2028. The race was initially viewed as one of the Republicans’ best chances to defeat a Democratic incumbent.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz pointed to the speed with which the race was called as evidence that messaging played a decisive role in Ossoff’s victory.
“The fact that Jon Ossoff beat Mike Collins just 20 minutes after polls closed is proof that good communication and language matters in a Senate campaign,” he wrote on X.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins
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