USA Today: “Jackson maintains distance from Collins”
New reporting from USA Today underscores the increasing concern from Republicans that GOP U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins, his “close ties” to white nationalism, and the ongoing federal investigation into his illegal misuse of tax dollars will sink GOP gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson’s campaign for governor as they run as the top of the GOP ticket.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported that Collins “could be dragging Jackson’s chances down,” and on FOX5’s The Georgia Gang, strategist Tharon Johnson asked, “is Mike Collins really dragging down the Rick Jackson ticket right now? Is he somebody that maybe Republicans don’t feel that they want to be associated this closely with because of his inability to come out and explain some of these very factual and, I believe, fair attacks on his campaign?”
At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Rick Jackson refused to commit to campaign with Mike Collins between now and November.
USA Today: Repeat of 2022? Georgia could see split tickets again in 2026 election
By: Irene Wright | August 12, 2026
KEY EXCERPTS:
- With less than 100 days until the midterm elections in November, races in Georgia are heating up for two of the state’s top seats.
- While Collins has stumped on his conservative bona fides, he has had to answer for a House ethics investigation about an alleged misuse of tax dollars as well as questions about his alleged ties to white supremacists.
- And Collins has the Trump endorsement, though he did not appear with the president during a recent visit to Georgia.
- With a separation working in Jackson’s favor, it’s also not surprising Collins and Jackson have rarely appeared with one another, and have not been outspoken in their support for the other candidate.
- Collins and Jackson were photographed together at the Tillman Rally in Floyd County, Georgia over the weekend, despite both attending an event in Athens the week prior and not appearing together.
- In a social media post from Collins, the representative did not mention Jackson by name or the governor’s race […]
- In Jackson’s post about the event, he did not share any images with Collins.
- Other GOP voices are worried Collins could bring down the Republican ticket for both of them.
- Shortly after the Senate primary runoff, Tea Party co-founder Debbie Dooley said, “Collins will hurt the GOP ticket” and listed past controversies associated with the representative.
- Cody Hall, an advisor to Gov. Kemp, said in May, “Mike Collins’ record of corruption will either sink his campaign on June 16th or the Georgia Republican ticket this November.”
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