As we head into Thanksgiving, Georgia’s GOP U.S. Senate candidates Buddy Carter, Mike Collins, and Derek Dooley are turning up the heat on the “combustible,” “splintered,” and messy primary they’ve been cooking up the past few months.
See some of the recent coverage below:
Punchbowl News: Georgia’s messy Senate GOP primary isn’t going away
By Max Cohen | November 20th, 2025
KEY EXCERPTS:
Collins’ campaign also drew heat last week for pushing a deepfake ad featuring a deceptive edit of Ossoff. The video raised alarms in the state and even drew criticism from Dooley’s camp.
The Georgia Senate GOP primary is devolving into bitter infighting, prompted by a string of controversial ads that are catching the attention of party leadership.
But don’t expect an end to the messiness anytime soon.
The back and forth. First, a Gov. Brian Kemp-linked nonprofit ran an ad earlier thismonth attacking Carter and Collins for the government shutdown. Kemp has endorsed Dooley, a former college football coach making his first run for elected office.
The top Senate Republican campaign groups condemned the ad […] as a distraction from their stance that Democrats were to blame for the shutdown.
“[That ad] did get people upset. It’s unfortunate that we’ve got some of our own doing the Democrats’ dirty work,” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) told us. “It was very disappointing.”
The Republican campaigns also sparred on Veterans Day. Collins’ camp released a social media video that started with a tribute to military service before attacking Dooley for his history of not voting. Dooley hit back and accused Collins of “using Veterans Day to score political points.”
WABE Political Breakfast: GOP infighting ahead of the 2026 Georgia governor’s race, U.S. Senate race to unseat Jon Ossoff
Lisa Rayam and Brian Robinson | November 20th, 2025
- [Brian Robinson, WABE] “So certainly, the Senate Republicans are angry. Brian Kemp had a national profile, a national platform, and they were like going after him for this. I know for a fact the White House was unhappy with that ad for the same reasons. They felt like it was off message, attacking Republicans as opposed to the Democrats, and echoing democratic talking points […]”
- “[…] And Carter seems to be kind of stalled out, yeah.”
- [Lisa Rayam, WABE] “In the words of Brian, are the ripping of the faces, ripping off of faces, starting to begin?”
- [Brian Robinson, WABE] “That has been part of the Dooley vs Collins campaigns from the very beginning. It is very negative, and you kind of have to be in the echo chamber a little bit the insider to really notice it, because a lot of it’s on social media.
Fox News: GOP civil war erupts over shutdown politics in critical Senate race: ‘Not a winning formula’
By Peter Pinedo | November 19th, 2025
KEY EXCERPTS:
- Republicans in Georgia are locked in a bitter civil war revolving around the government shutdown and a critical primary race […]
- The controversy exploded when a political group aligned with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp released an attack ad criticizing Republican Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter over the government shutdown and suggested “political outsider” Derek Dooley, a former Tennessee football coach, is needed to set things straight […]
- The ad garnered quick criticism from sections of the Georgia Republican Party as a betrayal of President Donald Trump’s and the GOP’s national messaging […].
- Collins took to X, writing, “I’m not sure why the governor’s nonprofit 501(c)(4) would be using dark money to attack Republican members of the Georgia delegation by parroting the anti-Trump Democrat lie that ‘Republicans are to blame for the shutdown.’”
- A few days later, Collins’ campaign released a Veterans Day ad attacking Dooley for saying in an interview that he “probably went 20 years” without voting for a presidential candidate, including missing five opportunities to vote for Trump.
- Dooley in turn accused Collins of “using Veterans Day to score political points,” which he said, “tells you everything you need to know about typical politicians” […]
- In a statement to Fox News Digital, Carter spokesperson Harley Adsit called the ad a “desperate attempt” by Dooley “to save his failing campaign.”
- Collins, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital: “Dooley is certainly an odd fellow.”
- “He’s been gone from our state for 25 years and his first attempt at gainful employment upon return is to run for office, but what’s even odder is his campaign’s decision to attack congressional Republicans and run counter to President Trump’s messaging, and frankly the reality, that Democrats indeed caused the shutdown,” said Collins, adding, “I’m not sure if he and his team’s hatred for Trump is driving their strategy or if it’s just a genuine ignorance of what’s going on at the federal level, but it is certainly not a winning formula for next November.”
- Observing all this from the outside, Georgia Democrats signaled they are bullish on their chances to hold the seat in November.
- Devon Cruz, a spokesman for the Democratic Party of Georgia, told Fox News Digital, “Brian Kemp’s latest attempt to boost the failed and fired Derek Dooley further proves that Republicans are in for a long, nasty primary.”
- “No matter who limps out of the primary, it’s been made very clear that the eventual nominee will be badly bruised and battered for a general election,” said Cruz.
- Kemp’s office responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by referring to Fox News Digital to the governor’s political staff at Georgians First, Inc. The group did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
- Hardworking Georgians did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by the time of publication.