WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Bruised” Mike Collins Hobbles into General Election with “Dirty Laundry” and “Almost No Money”

Cook Political Report: “Collins — who has a combative and controversial social media presence, a hardline abortion position and a pending ethics investigation — isn’t exactly a natural fit for suburban Atlanta voters”

POLITICO: “While Republicans spent months turning their fire on each other, Ossoff has steadily built his campaign infrastructure — and refined his general election message”

MS NOW: “But some Republicans are worried about Collins, including his hardline stance on abortion rights and an Office of Congressional Conduct probe into his office’s potential misuse of resources”

After spending “months turning their fire on each other,” Georgia Republicans are now stuck with “bruised,” “notorious bigot,” and “election denier” Mike Collins as their Senate nominee as he enters the General Election with a “ridiculous” amount of baggage and “almost no money.”

Collins, who has a “violent online presence” and a “reputation for hiring problematic staffers,” will need “significant help from outside groups” as Georgians learn about his “dirty laundry,” which includes using taxpayer money to pay “more than $10,000 to an intern who was dating his chief of staff and performed no work.”

Meanwhile, Jon Ossoff has “refined his general election message,” making clear he’s “ready to bring the fight to Collins” – and prepared to expose his record of voting to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, backing the Iran War, and rubber-stamping Trump’s reckless tariffs.

See for yourself:

CNN: Collins Wins GOP Runoff, Will Face Ossoff For Georgia Senate

CNN’s KAREN FINNEY: Jon Ossoff, I think, is making it clear that he is ready to bring the fight to Collins. You know, the other thing Collins has is he’s an election denier. You know, I can tell you, having done a lot of work in Georgia, this issue of hospital closures and Medicaid expansion, those are huge issues because some of these rural hospitals are really suffering. 

And so that is going to be, that along with affordability, which we’ve been talking about all year long, are going to be big issues. I think Ossoff is making it clear he is ready to fight and ready to make character an issue, and ready to point out that, you know, if you are someone who may have, you know, corrupt or questionable, shall we say, ties, are you going to be a guy who can come to Washington and deliver? 

MS NOW: NOW: Live Results From High-Stakes Primary Runoffs

MS NOW’s JEN PSAKI: Okay, lots to talk about tonight. I want to start because we know that Senator Jon Ossoff is going to face Mike Collins in November. And, I mean, we were looking up just how people were projecting this race six months ago, nine months ago, a year ago. I mean, this was the race Republicans were licking their chops about for a long time. Where do you think that sits now? What are your other takeaways from what we know so far?

MS NOW’s JIM MESSINA: A couple of things. One, Georgia is now the swingiest state in America. […] But the Republicans decided to nominate Mike Collins, who has more baggage than Donald Trump’s reflecting pool green algae thing. I mean, it is ridiculous how much baggage this guy has. 

So, going into the general, I think Ossoff got exactly who he wanted. Ossoff has $32 million cash on hand. The Republicans are going to come into the general election with almost no money, and they nominated the wrong candidate. Donald Trump continues to want to nominate the people that are most loyal to him, who are usually the worst people in a general election. Being loyal to Donald Trump can get you killed in the general election. And I think that’s what we’re likely to see in November. 

Wall Street Journal: Trump-Backed Mike Collins to Face Jon Ossoff in Georgia for U.S. Senate Seat

• Senate Democrats were quick to attack Collins with an ad released about an hour after he was declared the GOP runoff winner, highlighting his voting record and an ethics investigation involving him. 
• Earlier this year, the House Ethics Committee said it would investigate Collins over allegations he paid more than $10,000 to an intern who was dating his chief of staff and performed no work. 

POLITICO: Republicans are still really worried about beating Jon Ossoff

• A bruised GOP Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) will go head to head against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, a prolific fundraiser who many Republicans worry will be difficult to beat this November.
• While Republicans spent months turning their fire on each other, Ossoff has steadily built his campaign infrastructure — and refined his general election message.
• Collins raised $4.9 million and had just $1.2 million in cash on hand as of May 27, according to fundraising reports. By comparison, Ossoff has raised $60 million and had $32 million left in the bank at the end of April.
• Collins will require significant help from outside groups, [a GOP] operative said, but it’s not clear how much will come: “What is the willingness to go all in for Mike Collins? Do they think he can win? Do they think they can get this done? What are those resources going to look like? Because he’s not going to fundraise — I don’t think — very well.”
• “Dooley is much less of a political extremist than Collins is and Collins is on the record voting directly for the policies that have devastated Georgians,” said one person aligned with a Democratic PAC involved in Senate elections, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “As for an [opposition] research perspective and in our effort to air out his dirty laundry we have a lot more ammunition with Collins.”
• Even President Donald Trump, who made a last-minute endorsement for Collins ahead of Tuesday’s election, had grilled him about his strict stance on abortion, pressing him on how he could win in a general election in one of the nation’s premier swing states. Abortion has become a political vulnerability for Republicans in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
• Ossoff was quick to hammer Collins after his victory, tying him to Trump and assailing him as a “notorious bigot.”
• “Collins, who is only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, voted to double health insurance premiums for more than a million Georgians, for the Iran War, and for the Trump tariffs,” Ossoff said in a statement.
• National Democrats say they are planning to hit Collins hard. Senate Majority PAC, the main Senate Democratic super PAC, has committed $20 million to supporting the incumbent in the general.
  

Associated Press: Rep. Mike Collins wins Georgia’s GOP Senate nomination and will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff

• A trucking company owner and son of a congressman, Collins campaigns as a self-described “MAGA warrior” and echoes Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election loss in Georgia and nationally was rigged.
• Collins won the nomination despite his Republican opponents highlighting a House ethics complaint that accuses him of abusing taxpayer funds by paying the girlfriend of his former top adviser for congressional job duties she allegedly did not fulfill. After an initial investigation, a federal panel forwarded the matter to the House Ethics Committee.
• The congressman begins his general election campaign at a financial disadvantage. Collins raised about $4.9 million through the end of May, and reported having less than $1.2 million remaining. Through late April, the last time Ossoff had to file before his primary, the incumbent had raised $60.4 million and had $32.5 million on hand.

NBC News: Rep. Mike Collins wins GOP runoff in Georgia Senate race

• Collins represents a deeply Republican district and is an ardent conservative who has stuck close to Trump. Asked after a campaign event last month whether he disagreed with any of Trump’s actions in his second term, Collins told NBC News that he disagrees with Trump on the hours of sleep needed to function, noting that Trump does not get much sleep.
• “Listen, I ran on Trump policies. I ran on ‘America First.’ I know what those policies did and can do for this country and for the people of this country. That’s what I’m running with, and he is — I wholeheartedly support what he’s been doing,” Collins said.
• Asked after his rally Monday night about voters’ concerns about high costs and Trump’s handling of the economy, Collins suggested the economy would turn around.
• Ossoff also previewed at his rally that he will highlight a House Ethics Committee probe into whether Collins misused congressional funds by paying a former aide for campaign work and by employing the aide’s girlfriend, who did not do work for the office.
• A supporter pressed Collins at his rally Monday about how he plans to respond to issues that had been “all over the ads,” referring to attacks from Dooley and his allies highlighting the ethics probe and Phillips controversies.
• On the candidate level, Ossoff starts the race with an overwhelming financial advantage. His campaign has raised more than $80 million and had $32 million to spend as of April 29, when he filed his most recent campaign finance report.
• Collins, whose campaign had to file a fundraising report more recently because of the runoff, has raised $4.9 million and had $1.2 million in his campaign account as of May 27.

POLITICO: Mike Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate runoff, setting up major clash with Jon Ossoff

• Republicans will now pivot to a general election battle against Ossoff, who they fear will be hard to beat in November. The Democratic incumbent has spent months stockpiling cash and commanding national attention while Collins and Dooley have been locked in a costly and bitter primary fight.
• [The win] was a relief for Collins, whose campaign was rocked by an internal controversy recently after his top aide, Brandon Phillips — who is also at the center of a House Ethics investigation — posted a vulgar insult directed at the wife of a Dooley-aligned operative on social media.
  

Cook Political Report: Post-Primary Recap: The Battle for Suburban Atlanta Begins

• Collins — who has a combative and controversial social media presence, a hardline abortion position and a pending ethics investigation — isn’t exactly a natural fit for suburban Atlanta voters […]

MS NOW: Mike Collins wins Georgia GOP Senate primary runoff to face Ossoff in November

• Collins, a congressman representing Georgia’s 10th District, finished first in the primary. The trucking company owner and staunch ally of Trump built his campaign around support for the president’s agenda, border security, immigration enforcement and conservative cultural issues.
• But some Republicans are worried about Collins, including his hardline stance on abortion rights and an Office of Congressional Conduct probe into his office’s potential misuse of resources […]
• His social media tone, which includes severely downplaying the U.S. Capitol attack where some pro-Trump rioters injured members of law enforcement, gives credence to the president’s view of him as a “a true Friend, Fighter, and WARRIOR,” as Trump wrote in his post endorsing Collins.
• But those sentiments also spotlight a few of the vulnerabilities for a statewide candidate coming from a reliably red congressional district.
• Collins will now face Ossoff, who is seeking a second term after winning a pair of runoff elections in 2021 that helped Democrats gain control of the Senate. Since taking office, Ossoff has built a national fundraising network. His re-election campaign has emphasized lowering costs for families, protecting access to healthcare, supporting economic development and promoting government accountability.
  

Fox News: Trump-backed candidate survives grueling runoff, advances to high-stakes Senate race

• Republican Rep. Mike Collins, who is running as a MAGA champion and strong supporter of President Donald Trump, has won a competitive and combustible battle for the GOP Senate nomination in Georgia that went into overtime.
• The House Ethics Committee looked into Collins over allegations he paid an intern in a district office who had a romantic relationship with his congressional chief of staff but who did not actually perform any work.
• [The same staffer took] to social media on behalf of the campaign to mock the wife of a Dooley campaign advisor who attempted suicide after accusing Matt Lauer of rape. […]
• While the Republicans have been battling for their party’s nomination over the past year, Ossoff has built a powerful war chest that will give him a major fundraising advantage as the general election gets underway.

Talking Points Memo: Ossoff Will Go Up Against a Right-Winger Known For His Extreme Social Media Commentary

• Georgia’s Senate election will be a key race this November as Democrats aim to retake the chamber, and a runoff election Tuesday determined Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D) challenger: Mike Collins (R), an extremely pro-Trump Republican whose office personnel issues are dwarfed only by the congressman’s own prolific social media presence, which is steeped in radical far-right rhetoric and violent anti-immigrant ideology.
• Collins took office in Congress in 2023 and quickly emerged as a firebrand on social media. He leaned in to the moniker of “memer in Congress” — and his posting became extreme, even for MAGA standards. He has parrotted at least twice an extremist far right fantasy — “Pinochet air” — about throwing disfavored people from helicopters.
• In addition to his at times violent online presence, Collins also has already gained a reputation for hiring problematic staffers. His first chief of staff-turned-senior campaign advisor is the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he used Collins’ office to pay his own girlfriend for a possibly nonexistent internship.
• Collins’ second chief of staff reportedly participated in a group chat with white nationalists including Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer where he shared information about his attempts to help the far-right troll and Holocaust denier Chuck Johnson, who was at the time in jail for contempt of court.
• Because of his controversies, Collins is viewed as a weaker candidate against record-breaking fundraiser Ossoff.