Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Georgia Rep. Mike Collins is the GOP\u2019s nominee to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of this year\u2019s most closely watched Senate races.<\/p>\n
Collins, boosted by a last-minute endorsement<\/a> from President Donald Trump, defeated former football coach Derek Dooley to win the runoff Tuesday. The primary had turned into a messy proxy war between popular Gov. Brian Kemp, who championed Dooley\u2019s bid, and Trump, who called Collins a \u201cWARRIOR and WINNER!\u201d on Truth Social.<\/p>\n Republicans will now pivot to a general election battle against Ossoff, who they fear will be hard to beat in November. The Democratic incumbent has spent months stockpiling cash<\/a> and commanding national attention<\/a> while Collins and Dooley have been locked in a costly and bitter primary fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n Collins\u2019 victory over Dooley is another notch in Trump\u2019s endorsement record. Although the president did not weigh in until after the early voting period had ended, just days before the runoff, his backing was widely expected to help propel Collins to a first-place finish.<\/p>\n It was a relief for Collins, whose campaign was rocked by an internal controversy recently after his top aide, Brandon Phillips \u2014 who is also at the center of a House Ethics investigation \u2014 posted a vulgar insult directed at the wife of a Dooley-aligned operative on social media.<\/p>\n Collins quickly rebuked the post and moved to further align himself with Trump\u2019s political operation, bringing on several top Trump campaign veterans, including pollster Tony Fabrizio, data strategist Tim Saler and Chip Englander as a general consultant.<\/p>\n