Trump endorses Collins in Georgia Senate runoff. It's his latest 'MAGA' pick in Republican primaries

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ATLANTA (AP) — Days before the U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia, President Donald Trump has endorsed U.S. Rep. Mike Collins over former football coach Derek Dooley, putting his stamp of approval on another loyalist who some conservatives believe could be a risky bet in November.

The Republican candidates are competing Tuesday for the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most closely watched campaigns in the November midterm elections. Collins has positioned himself as a stalwart ally of Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement, and the president said in his announcement early Sunday on social media that the trucking company owner and second-term congressman “has been with me from the very beginning” and is a ”true friend, fighter, and WARRIOR."

Dooley, a political newcomer, is backed by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who has clashed with Trump in the past. “I don’t know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person,” Trump wrote, while noting that Dooley did not vote in 2016 or 2020, when Trump was on the ballot. Dooley has acknowledged going nearly two decades without voting but says he did vote for Trump in 2024.

Trump also complained that Dooley — accurately — said Trump lost Georgia in 2020, refusing to back the president's lie that the election was stolen from him.

Collins led Dooley in the May 19 primary but neither surpassed 40%, leaving many Republican votes up for grabs. Trump’s endorsement has proved powerful as he shapes a party identity that is increasingly indistinguishable from his own.

“Everybody knows that I do best with the MAGA base,” Collins said on primary night. “It’s because they know I’ve always been with President Trump.”

Still, the president’s choice puts him at odds with more traditional Republicans, including Kemp. The endorsement is reminiscent of Trump’s decision to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before his victory over U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s recent primary runoff.

Dooley responded to Trump's decision by saying Georgia voters want “a political outsider” rather than “typical D.C. politicians like Mike Collins.” In an X post, Dooley expressed confidence that he would win.

Collins has embraced Trump since his first campaign for Congress in 2022, and he has echoed the president’s false claims that his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was fraudulent. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, a 2025 law that requires immigrants be detained when charged with certain crimes. Republicans believe the issue damages Ossoff because he initially voted against the measure before supporting it after Trump returned to the White House.

Dooley — and Kemp as his top surrogate — argue that a first-time candidate has a better shot to defeat Ossoff, the only Democratic senator facing voters in a state Trump carried in 2024.

Kemp was the top choice of Senate Republican leaders looking for an Ossoff challenger. Kemp recruited Dooley, a childhood friend, to run instead.

Trump’s choice to back Collins, and his insistence on bringing up the 2020 election again, puts the spotlight again on the president's uneasy relationship with Kemp. The governor resisted pressure from Trump not to certify Biden’s presidential electors before the Electoral College convened in December of the election year.

Trump repeatedly criticized at Kemp in the years after and backed a primary challenger, former Sen. David Perdue, against Kemp in 2022. Kemp trounced Perdue and coasted in the general election. By 2024, he and Trump managed a detente as Trump worked to return Georgia to the GOP presidential column.

But behind the scenes, it has been clear that the alliance was fragile and circumstantial. Kemp’s decision to recruit Dooley for the Senate in the first place, with an emphasis on the need for a political outsider, has itself been a subtle rejection of Trump’s domination of the party.

In his many campaign stops alongside Dooley, Kemp has reminded voters that Republicans have not won a Senate election in Georgia since 2016 — when Trump was first elected. Each time, the GOP nominee has fully embraced Trump.

Kemp and Dooley are scheduled to campaign again together Monday.

The governor points to a trio of first-term Republican senators — Montana’s Tim Sheehy, Pennsylvania’s Dave McCormick and Ohio’s Bernie Moreno — who defeated Democratic incumbents in 2024 running as outsiders who still aligned with the president.

Dooley’s argument is matched against Trump’s winning streak inside the party. In a matter of weeks, Trump has celebrated victories over Republicans who did not pass his test of loyalty.

Cornyn lost to Paxton, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost to Ed Gallrein, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana failed to make a runoff and several Indiana state senators were defeated by challengers. But Trump was unable to lift U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s primary for governor.

Dooley has told voters he will “work with President Trump but fight for you.” He also emphasizes that Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate race in Georgia since 2016.

Collins walks no such tightrope, and he still insists that he can have wider appeal in the fall.

“You don’t beat Jon Ossoff by having no record,” he said. “You win by having a record of results.”