“Early friction underscores the tall task ahead of Republicans: avoiding a messy primary that leaves the nominee bruised and battered…”
New reporting in The Hill details how Georgia’s GOP U.S. Senate candidates are already locked into “a messy primary” that could leave the eventual nominee “bruised” and “battered” as “MAGA warrior” Rep. Buddy Carter, MAGA extremist Rep. Mike Collins, and failed and fired former Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley quickly resort to hurling nasty, personal attacks at one another.
In addition to a messy primary between candidates, Georgia Republicans are also navigating a potential showdown between Gov. Brian Kemp and President Donald Trump as the two Republicans refuse to get on the same page in order to avoid “a major clash.”
Read for yourself:
The Hill: Georgia GOP fears bruising primary in race to unseat Ossoff
Caroline Vakil, Al Weaver and Brett Samuels | 8/17/25
KEY POINTS:
- The early friction underscores the tall task ahead of Republicans: avoiding a messy primary that leaves the nominee bruised and battered heading into the general election, while also dodging a major clash between Kemp and President Trump […]
- Just hours into Dooley’s entry, the tenor of the race quickly turned negative, with Carter and Collins attacking the former football coach.
- “I will tell you this, and we’re all proud of our dads, and I’m sure both my opponents are proud of their dads as well. But at the same time, we better take this serious,” Carter said while speaking to Henry County Republicans earlier this month, a thinly veiled shot at Dooley.
- Meanwhile, Collins’s campaign has taken to mocking Dooley, such as when the former football coach posted that “In coaching, we have a saying, ‘Your film is your resume.’”
- “‘Your film is your resume.’ So true, Coach!” replied Collins’s campaign, posting a clip of Louisiana State University defeating the University of Tennessee, where Dooley formerly coached, 16-14 in a 2010 SEC game.
- In Dooley’s first interview since launching his Senate bid, conservative radio show host and former Kemp aide Martha Zoller noted he had only been in the race for about a week.
- “[…] there are a lot of concerns by a lot of Republicans about that,” said conservative radio show host Erick Erickson, referring to concerns about a messy primary.
- Republicans are equally — if not more — eager to avoid a clash between Kemp and the president […]
- Several reports last month indicated Trump’s and Kemp’s orbits were at odds yet again, particularly over Kemp’s reported push for Dooley.
- A GOP operative confirmed to The Hill that there had been a sense of “annoyance” between Trump’s and Kemp’s camps over how to handle the race […]
- “Both sides recognize it’s best if they’re on the same side in the end,” the operative said. “I think it’s still TBD where that ends up.”
- But “every day that goes by is another day that Ossoff is untouched, is raising more money and […] is padding his cash advantage over our nominee.”