Overwhelming support from Black voters propelled incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff to a midterm election triumph over U.S. Rep. Mike Collins tonight in a major rebuke to policies and candidates backed by President Donald Trump.
The 39-year-old former aide to civil rights legend John Lewis had secured 64.5% of the vote when the race was called.
AP declared Ossoff the winner of the pivotal U.S. Senate race around 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Ossoff’s victory in Georgia signals a shift in both the state and the nation’s political winds as Democrats work to secure majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the U.S. Senate.
Two years ago, Ossoff was regarded as the country’s most vulnerable Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent as the only party member serving in a state Trump won in 2024.
That changed last year when polls show Trump fell out of favor with most Americans, including many in his own MAGA base. Former Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned in January after beefing with the president over the delayed release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and Trump’s decision to start a war with Iran.
The general public’s souring on Trump stemmed largely from broken campaign promises to lower the cost of living, full release of the Epstein files, and keep America out of foreign wars.
Trump’s tariffs on foreign goods and his decision to bomb Iran have been credited with driving up the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel, and foreign products many Georgians rely on. His Department of Government Efficiency layoffs led to many Black Georgians losing their jobs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal offices in the state.
Trump’s policies have also contributed to the collective wealth of Black Americans declining by about 25%. The social safety net cuts included in his One Big Beautiful Bill Act led to cuts to Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, and Housing and Urban Development rental assistance, all of which have hurt the pockets of Black Georgians.
These were policies defended by Collins, whom Trump endorsed in June. The 59-year-old Jackson native ultimately backed release of the Epstein files despite initially opposing it when Trump was against it.
Collins wooed some members of the Georgia Black Republican Council during a College Park campaign stop in August, but ultimately failed to match the charisma Trump and fellow billionaire Rick Jackson previously have shown in their own efforts to do the same.
Ossoff kept Collins on defense throughout 2026, repeatedly challenging him to explain why he’s hired his son-in-law David Alan Scheer II, a pro-white nationalist social media influencer, and former campaign fundraiser Preston Alfonso Parra Mejia Luca Matteo Del Toro, an online troll who has posted AI-generated images of himself wearing Ku Klux Klan robes and made vulgar references to Black people.
All of the above turned off Black conservatives like Michael Murphy, who serves as second vice chair of the Georgia Black Republican Council.
“Most fellow Black Republicans I speak with are leaning towards a split ticket,” Murphy told Capital B Atlanta in late August. “They’re in support of Rick Jackson, but have not decided or are not excited about candidate Collins.”
Black conservative radio personality Shelley Wynter, who backed Jackson’s bid for governor, was one of the first to speak out against Collins after endorsing Ossoff in June.
“If African American Republicans are going to make any inroads into the Black community … you have to build credibility within that community,” Wynter said. “You don’t build credibility within that community if you’re going to just vote for the Republican Party simply because it’s the Republican Party. You become no different than Democrats who say, ‘Vote blue no matter who.’”
On the campaign trail, Ossoff has touted his years-long effort to combat abusive landlords and restore federal funding for Black-owned businesses that was eliminated due to Trump’s anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
He’s also been floated as one of the leading candidates for Democrats to run for president in 2028, but has so far shown no interest.
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