'Disappointment for GOP': Georgia strategists warn Trump pick already lost

Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) at AmericaFest 2025 in Phoenix, AZ on December 20, 2025 (Xuthoria/Wikimedia Commons)

In Georgia — a key swing state that Donald Trump won in 2016 and 2024 but lost in 2020 — Republicans are hoping to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. But polls are showing Ossoff with consistent leads, usually in the high single digits, over the GOP nominee: Rep. Mike Collins. And according to the Wall Street Journal, Republican strategists fear that Collins' ailing campaign may be reaching the point of no return.

Reporters Cameron McWhirter and Terell Wright, in WSJ, explain, "Most politicos see the race, once considered a tossup, as firmly blue, strengthening Democrats' longshot push to take back the Senate this fall and marking a big disappointment for the GOP."

Jordan Fuchs, a veteran GOP strategist based in Georgia, told WSJ that because of "lackluster fundraising, ongoing scandals with staffers and family," Collins' campaign is "really having difficulty breaking through."

McWhirter and Wright explain, "Collins' weak showing has sparked alarm among GOP strategists and pollsters that his run could weigh on other Republican candidates in Georgia, including the race for governor and contests for offices ranging from attorney general to insurance commissioner. Polls show the governor race tight, with Keisha Lance Bottoms aiming to become the first Democrat elected to the post since 1998. Democrats are also pushing a longshot effort to take the GOP-led state House of Representatives, which Republicans have controlled since 2005."

Collins, on the campaign trail, is trying to paint Ossoff as hard-left and out of touch with Georgia values. But so far, according to polls, his message isn't breaking through.

Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of Inside Elections, told WSJ, "There's a general concern that Collins isn't the right candidate or running the right campaign to defeat Ossoff."

A recent Insider Advantage poll found Collins trailing Ossoff by 8 percent, while a Fabrizio Ward poll showed Ossoff ahead by 9 percent. And Ossoff's vehemently anti-Donald Trump message appears to be firing up his fundraising.

"As of June 30," McWhirter and Wright write, "Ossoff's campaign had raised about $98 million this term, with $77.3 million since the start of 2025. Collins has raised $7.4 million since last year, according to Federal Election Commission filings."

A "summer of scandal," according to WSJ, is dragging Collins down.

"Collins' campaign has faced a series of scandalous headlines," McWhirter and Wright note. "In July, CNN reported that Collins' son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, had shared posts that promoted antisemitic and white nationalist views. In comments on social media, Scheer said all Muslims should be deported and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories. Voter and property records show Scheer lives on property owned by Collins. Collins has said that Scheer has no role in his campaign and condemned the comments."

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