Democrats hold firm in Georgia as Republicans fail to flip prized Senate seat

The Fox News Decision Desk projects that Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia has defeated Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins.

Ossoff, once considered by the GOP to be the most vulnerable Democratic senator seeking re-election in the 2026 midterms, will now keep his job representing the southeastern battleground state in the U.S. Senate. He took an early lead in the race when polls closed Tuesday night, which only expanded as the hours wore on.

His victory means Georgia, a one-time red bastion that swung to the center in recent years, will continue to have two Democrats representing the state in the Senate. He's the second Democratic senator to hold his seat on Tuesday night after Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was also projected to win re-election.

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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., (left) and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., (right) battled on the debate stage ahead of their Nov. 3 general election showdown. (Getty Images)

"A workhorse for the people of Georgia, Senator Ossoff has spent the last six years in the U.S. Senate providing outstanding constituent services, standing up for children, and fighting to make life better," the Senate Democrats' campaign arm said in a statement after Ossoff's victory.

"Georgians sent him back to the Senate because they know he will always show up for them, and now he’ll continue putting Georgia families first."

Ossoff and fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock were both elected in runoff elections at the end of the 2020 cycle, ending a decade and a half of Georgia's all-Republican representation in the Senate. Weeks earlier, former President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to carry the state in nearly three decades.

But Georgia shifted back to the right in 2024, with President Donald Trump reclaiming the state and winning the White House.

At the start of the 2026 cycle, Georgia was atop the GOP's target list of seats to flip, and Republicans aimed to hold their 53-47 Senate majority.

While Ossoff built a massive campaign war chest as he cruised unopposed to renomination, Collins was part of a combustible three-way GOP primary Senate battle with Rep. Buddy Carter and former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was supported by popular term-limited conservative Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins and Dooley advanced to a June runoff, which Collins won due in part to an eleventh-hour Trump endorsement.

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Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia, who's running for the U.S. Senate, speaks to supporters at a campaign event, on June 14, 2026 in Woodstock, Georgia (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

In the general election showdown, Collins made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign, spotlighting the Laken Riley Act, which he authored. The law requires the detention of certain illegal immigrants who are arrested for, charged with, convicted of or admit to committing specified offenses. Ossoff voted for the measure but has criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

Collins also accused Ossoff of supporting policies that drove up inflation and taxes, while the senator targeted Collins over his backing of Trump's tariffs and the war in Iran, which triggered a surge in gas and diesel prices and an overall rise in the cost of living.

During their debates, Ossoff also put Collins on defense over a House ethics investigation into whether the congressman abused taxpayer funds by hiring the girlfriend of his former chief of staff for work she allegedly did not perform. Collins has insisted the issue is simply a "complaint" with no merit.

Collins also faced heat over social media posts by his son-in-law — a social media influencer on the far right — that shared Nazi imagery and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, speaks during a campaign event at The Tabernacle in Atlanta, Ga., on Sunday, May 31, 2026. Georgia's Senate race is seen as a must-win for Democrats if they are to have any path toward retaking the Senate in November. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Ossoff, meanwhile, faced questions about receiving campaign funds from Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist whose name appeared in the Epstein files.

While GOP-aligned outside groups initially spent big bucks to back Collins and make up for his massive fundraising deficit in his battle against Ossoff, the Republican spigot was cut back substantially in the final weeks leading up to Election Day. The move was a sign that many Republicans were giving up on their hopes of flipping the Senate seat in Georgia.

Ossoff, whom pundits view as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has repeatedly said he has "zero interest" in running for the White House next cycle. And in a debate with Collins last month, he pledged to serve out his full six-year Senate term if re-elected.

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The senator, a Georgia native, served as a national security staffer and legislative assistant for Rep. Hank Johnson before working as managing director of an investigative documentary production company. He first grabbed national attention in 2017, when he narrowly lost a special congressional election for a House seat that had long been a GOP stronghold.

Collins, who is also a Georgia native, is the son of the late Rep. Mac Collins. A businessman and the co-founder along with his wife of a trucking company, he was first elected to Congress in 2022.

Paul Steinhauser covers the national campaign trail from coast to coast for Fox News