“Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA) and former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley are locked in an escalating clash…”
In recent weeks, Georgia’s already “combustible,” “splintered” GOP U.S. Senate primary has further developed as “the intraparty fight Republicans hoped to avoid” according to new reporting from the Washington Examiner.
A recent Kemp-backed ad bashing Buddy Carter and Mike Collins in support of Derek Dooley has the failed and fired coach catching major heat. Collins once again slammed Dooley for not voting in over 20 years while he faces intense backlash from conservative commentators after misleading Georgians with a desperate deepfake video. As the infighting spirals, a new House ethics investigation of Collins was announced on Friday, adding even more chaos to this primary.
Washington Examiner: Georgia’s messy GOP Senate primary won’t settle without Trump
By: Samantha-Jo Roth | 11.24.25
KEY EXCERPTS:
- The Georgia GOP Senate primary has turned into the intraparty fight Republicans hoped to avoid after Gov. Brian Kemp passed on the race.
- Reps. Buddy Carter (R-GA) and Mike Collins (R-GA) and former Tennessee coach Derek Dooley are locked in an escalating clash that many believe will continue until President Donald Trump decides to step in.
- That turmoil deepened Friday when the House Ethics Committee announced it is reviewing a matter involving Collins and his top aide Brandon Phillips.
- A Republican strategist familiar with the race said the development could shift the contest.
- “It could change things depending on what it’s about,” the strategist said, noting concerns that Collins is a risky nominee with “too much hanging out there” and “dirty laundry” that could dog Republicans next fall.
- The Ethics Committee announcement hits as the primary’s ad wars are growing more aggressive.
- The first major escalation came on Nov. 6, when a nonprofit aligned with Kemp released an ad criticizing Carter, Collins and Ossoff over the government shutdown.
- Collins blasted the spot on X, questioning why “the governor’s nonprofit 501(c)(4) would be using dark money to attack Republican members of the Georgia delegation” and arguing it echoed Democrats’ messaging on the shutdown.
- Senate GOP campaign officials privately fumed that the ad undercut their national message.
- Five days later, on Veterans Day, Collins’ campaign launched one of its sharpest attacks on Dooley, highlighting the former coach’s admission that “I probably went 20 years where I didn’t vote” and accusing him of refusing to vote for Trump.
- Dooley fired back on X, writing that “Using Veterans Day to score political points tells you everything you need to know about typical politicians,” […]
- Shortly after the Veterans Day exchange, Collins’ operation drew new scrutiny with an with an ad built around a doctored clip of Ossoff, a digital manipulation that caught the attention of Republicans statewide and prompted a rare public critique from Dooley’s team.
- From Carter’s side, one Republican aligned with his campaign argued the contrast in the field is becoming clearer. “There has been one out of the three campaigns that hasn’t been a mess so far,” the person said.
- “You have one campaign under ethics investigation. You have another campaign getting denounced by national Republicans for blaming Trump conservatives on the shutdown. […]”
- Republican strategists outside the campaigns are divided over whether a drawn-out fight helps or hurts the eventual nominee.
- A Georgia GOP operative with Senate-race experience argued that Republicans can’t afford to let the primary drift.
- National Republicans privately concede the race has turned into exactly the scenario they hoped to avoid once Kemp declined to run.
- Yet GOP leadership is making it clear they won’t intervene.
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told Punchbowl News this week that “until we have a nominee, we’re not able to engage fully in that race,” effectively leaving the fight to continue through the May 2026 primary.