The superstar who could be the next US president, and his ‘brilliant and unstoppable’ Australian mum

Those two words from Georgia senator Jon Ossoff was all it took for a firestorm to engulf Washington, DC, in August, with the US president’s relationship to loyal aide Natalie Harp not escaping scrutiny for weeks no matter how much Donald Trump and his White House aides savaged reporters for asking about it.

It wasn’t the first time a surgical critique from Ossoff had ricocheted across the globe; in June, clips from his searing speech about Trump, corruption and American democracy at a downtown Atlanta rally went viral by both social and traditional media standards.

Seven months earlier, pundits had declared Ossoff – who, at 33 in 2021, was the youngest person elected to the Senate since 1980 – as the senator most likely to lose his seat. That his core campaign message was corruption and its impact on the economy was, according to the New York Times, why Ossoff’s decisive victory this week proved them wrong.

But it’s also about how he delivers his message.

Ossoff’s oratory, though some argue it’s overrated, is what’s drawn comparisons to former president Barack Obama.

His boyish good looks have netizens dubbing him “Hotticus Finch” due to his resemblance to Gregory Peck’s Atticus Finch in 1962’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Said netizens also feel Ossoff speaks their language; the Millennial politician, whose “extremely online” X (Twitter) feed was previously analysed by Politico, has been courting his generation-mates on social media since well before New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani made it fashionable.

Should the 39-year-old Democrat leverage the momentum of his successful midterm campaign into a successful run at the White House in 2028, he would be the youngest person in United States history to assume office.

Ossoff has said he has “zero interest” in running for president, and emphasised his intention to serve a full six-year term in the Senate.

That his previously held Australian citizenship “lapsed”, however, would be an ace up his sleeve should he backflip. While the US Constitution does not explicitly ban dual citizens from being president, candidates tied to another country often face accusations of divided loyalties or conflicts of interest.

So who is Jon Ossoff, and how likely is it that a United States president with Australian heritage is in our future? Here’s what to know.

Who is Jon Ossoff?

Raised in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia’s largest and capital city, Ossoff has represented the state in the US Senate since 2021. The Democrat has retained his Senate seat after defeating Republican Mike Collins.

Ossoff, who was raised Jewish, studied at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington DC, after interning for civil rights icon and Democratic congressman John Lewis.

He worked as a filmmaker in London before entering politics, producing documentaries about African politics and terror group ISIS, both of which aired on the BBC. He also investigated international corruption and war crimes, judicial corruption and sexual slavery.

Before his 2021 election, Ossoff unsuccessfully campaigned for a high-profile Georgia congressional seat in 2017, the same year he married obstetrician and gynaecologist Alisha Kramer after 12 years of dating. The couple shares two daughters.

In Congress, Ossoff has lobbied for affordable medicine and improved safety measures in the foster care system, and sought to defend civil rights and strong border security.

What were Ossoff’s results in the Georgia midterms race?

Ossoff was returned to Congress on a margin of almost 18 percentage points, comfortably defeating Collins.

He dominated the ballot in Atlanta and enjoyed strong returns in Columbus and Augusta, Georgia’s two other key urban centres. The Democrat took almost 80 per cent of the vote in Athens, the city that is home to the University of Georgia.

In his victory speech, Ossoff once again took aim at Trump, calling him a “failed lame duck president” to generous applause.

Ossoff’s victory, after all, came as part of a remarkable blue wave through Georgia, which also saw Keisha Lance Bottoms become the first Black woman elected as Georgia’s governor. All previous 83 governors of Georgia were white men.

Tanya Miller won the state’s attorney general poll, taking about 56 per cent of votes, as the Democrats enjoyed positive swings from voters of all genders and races in the state.

Does Ossoff have presidential aspirations?

Rumours of a presidential run in Ossoff’s future have only intensified following his thumping win at the midterms – helped by headlines such as “Jon Ossoff Suddenly Looks Even More Presidential” from the New York Times – despite Ossoff’s insistence he harbours no ambitions for the role.

Ossoff won midterm voters through a mandate that focused on the cost-of-living issues facing Americans. He tied the issue to the Trump administration’s economic failures, such as its tariffs and rising oil prices triggered by war in the Middle East.

Democrats expect that thread to play a significant role in the 2028 presidential race, especially if the Republican nominee is chosen from the deeply unpopular Trump administration. (Vice President JD Vance appears to already be turning on Trump).

What’s Ossoff’s connection to Australia?

Ossoff’s mother, Heather Fenton, was born and raised in Sydney. Her father hailed from Footscray in Melbourne, and her mother from Brisbane.

The business graduate and activist settled in Atlanta, Georgia, where she raised her only child with husband Richard Ossoff, a Harvard-educated attorney Fenton met after moving to the United States when she was 23.

“Brilliant and unstoppable”, according to a post Ossoff shared to X for Mother’s Day, Fenton is a prominent political figure in her own right.

She co-founded New Power PAC, a nonpartisan organisation that aims to increase the number of women in public office in Georgia.

Like her son, Fenton is a prolific social media user. Facebook is her megaphone of choice, her profile littered with posts criticising Trump and celebrating her son’s career moves, and photos of the Sydney Opera House lit up for Australia Day’s Dawn Reflection ceremony or in solidarity with Ukraine. It’s also where Fenton revealed Only Murders in the Building star Alexandra Templer Waldon is her goddaughter.

Donation records published by nonprofit OpenSecrets show Atlanta-based Fenton is retired, and has generously supported a range of Democrat-aligned causes. This included one $US33,400 donation for the Hillary Victory Fund in 2016, and more than $US50,000 for her son’s various election campaigns over the past decade.

Though no longer a citizen, Ossoff has travelled to Australia several times.

When asked in July what Americans could take from Australians, Ossoff told a TMZ reporter: “Vegemite is a little bit of an acquired taste, but there is a laid-back culture in Australia. We get a little bit wound-up sometimes over here.”