OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
6:17 PM – Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Representative Mike Collins secured the Republican nomination for the Georgia Senate race, defeating former college football coach Derek Dooley in a highly watched primary runoff.
By winning the nomination, Collins advances to the November general election, where he will challenge incumbent Democrat Senator Jon Ossoff in a crucial race that could decide control of the Senate.
Collins campaigned as a staunch, “America First” Washington insider and locked down a critical, last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump just days before the vote.
“It’s an honor to have that endorsement. It just shows that he has confidence that we know how to win this race, we know we’re in the lead in this thing,” Collins told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
In contrast, Dooley ran as a political outsider and held the steady backing of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, his lifelong friend, who spent months campaigning alongside him.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, the first law signed by President Trump during his second term in January 2025. The legislation mandates the federal detention of illegal aliens who are arrested for property crimes such as theft and burglary. It was named in honor of a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered in 2024 by a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. illegally.
The legislative history of the act is expected to be a top talking point in the upcoming Senate race. Ossoff initially voted against an early iteration of the measure, before reversing course to back the final version following Trump’s return to the White House.
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