| “…don’t expect the messiness to end anytime soon.” |
| New reporting from Punchbowl News highlights how the already “combustible” GOP U.S. Senate primary is getting even messier as Georgia Republicans devolve into “bitter infighting” with no “end to the messiness anytime soon.” The report details how MAGA extremist Rep. Mike Collins, “MAGA warrior” Rep. Buddy Carter, and failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley “sparred” after the release of Governor Kemp’s latest Dooley-boosting ad which drew criticism from in-state and national Republicans for promoting even more chaos. It also highlighted how Collins “drew heat” after his campaign released a deepfake video that fabricated fake information and words to mislead Georgians. Punchbowl News: Georgia’s messy Senate GOP primary isn’t going away By Max Cohen | November 20th, 2025 |
KEY EXCERPTS:
- 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.
- Speaking on the Georgia political beef, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that “until we have a nominee, we’re not able to engage fully in that race.”
- Translation: Party leadership isn’t getting involved in the primary and is planning on letting Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) and Derek Dooley fight it out until May 2026 […]
- The back and forth. First, a Gov. Brian Kemp-linked nonprofit ran an ad earlier this month 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.
- Dooley’s primary opponents were similarly angry.
- “[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.”
- This is exactly what Republicans feared would happen […].
- 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.