Georgia has spoken. Sen. Jon Ossoff won a second term Tuesday night, defeating Republican Rep. Mike Collins and keeping one of the country’s most closely watched Senate seats in Democratic hands.
The Associated Press called the race just before 8 p.m. ET, less than an hour after polls closed. CBS News projected Ossoff the winner at 7:41 p.m.
How Ossoff Got It Done
Ossoff, 39, is the youngest member of the Senate and was the only Senate Democrat seeking re-election in a state Donald Trump carried in 2024. Early in the cycle, he was seen as vulnerable. He then raised more than $100 million, according to the Associated Press, and outpaced Collins in fundraising by more than 10 to 1, WSB-TV reports.
He ran hard against Collins’s ties to Trump, saying during a debate, “Whatever Donald Trump says, Mike Collins does.” On the trail, he focused on lowering costs, protecting health coverage and banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks.
Capital B News Atlanta credits “overwhelming support from Black voters” for powering the win. Ossoff, a former aide to the late Congressman John Lewis, also picked up endorsements from some local Republican officials and from Black conservative radio host Shelley Wynter.
The Other Side
Collins, 59, is a two-term congressman and trucking business owner from Jackson. He won the GOP nomination in a June runoff with Trump’s endorsement. He argued Ossoff was out of touch with Georgia values and accused him of voting in lockstep with Bernie Sanders. His campaign also had to answer questions about people in his circle tied to racist and antisemitic posts, and Collins said he has always denounced racism and antisemitism, per the AP.
Ossoff first won his seat in the January 2021 runoffs. His win this year keeps Democrats’ hopes of retaking the Senate alive, CBS News reports.
Why it matters: Black voters showed up for this race, and they remain one of the deciding forces in Georgia politics. What happens in our state keeps shaping who holds power in Washington.
Look back at the final stretch of the campaign, when Obama rallied in Morrow for Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jon Ossoff. Stay with N’Style for more Georgia election results.
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Sources: CBS News, Associated Press via OPB, Associated Press via KSL, WSB-TV, Capital B News Atlanta
