Georgia's Republican Senate primary turned personal Sunday as Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins traded accusations of ethics violations and financial misconduct in a debate held just one day before early voting opens, a preview of how bruising the race to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff may become before voters even get to the general election.
The five-candidate forum, part of the Atlanta Press Club's Loudermilk-Young debate series, also featured former Tennessee Volunteers football coach Derek Dooley, former Senate candidate John Coyne, and retired Brig. Gen. Jonathan McColumn. But the sharpest exchanges belonged to the two sitting congressmen, who spent significant time questioning each other's fitness for the Senate seat rather than making the case against Ossoff.
With the May 19 primary approaching and no candidate expected to clear the 50-percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff, the stakes are high. A likely June 16 runoff looms, and the eventual Republican nominee will face Ossoff in November in one of the most closely watched Senate contests of the cycle.
Carter wasted little time going after Collins over a January report from the Office of Congressional Conduct. That report alleged Collins and his then-chief of staff, Brandon Phillips, "may have used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes" and "may have retained an employee who did not perform duties commensurate with the compensation the employee received."
The OCC findings centered on a woman who had a relationship with Phillips. Past and current Collins aides told investigators she was paid several times as a "District Office Paid Intern" but did not do any work. The report further suggested she was collecting pay from Collins's office while also working at Cox Communications.
The Hill reported that Carter pressed the point directly on the debate stage, telling Collins:
"Mike, we all know, as has been stated, that you're under federal investigation by your own Republican colleagues for misuse of taxpayer funds... and with your aide. If taxpayers can't trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?"
Collins dismissed the allegations as a "total nothing burger." His office has previously called the OCC complaint "meritless" and a "bogus complaint," labeling it "a sad attempt to derail one of Georgia's most effective conservative legislators in Congress." An attorney for Collins and Phillips attributed the probe to "two disgruntled, former members of Congressman Collins's staff" and urged the office to drop it.
Collins then pivoted to offense, telling Carter he could sense the pressure in his rival's voice.
"You know, Buddy, I can tell through the voice that you know how the polling is going out there."
Collins was not content to play defense. He alleged Carter's career had "been littered with complaints, crooked land deals" and challenged voters to search for themselves.
"You've even tripled your net worth, and all you got to do is go Google, 'Buddy Carter Ethics FBI,' and you'll see that."
The allegation traces to reporting by the Savannah Morning News, which found that Carter did not include a tract of land he purchased in Camden County in his personal financial disclosures to Congress. The paper also reported Carter did not tell the FAA about the land when he advocated for a spaceport project near the property. Carter said in 2020 that he bought the land to hunt and fish.
Carter told the Savannah Morning News his omission was proper: "You only report real property that you hold if it's solely for the purpose of investment or the generation of income. And that property is not for investment, and it's certainly not for the generation of income." The Current later noted that Carter looked to sell the property after the spaceport project fell through.
Carter has also faced two Federal Election Commission complaints over the years. In 2017, a probe examined whether he illegally transferred money from his state account to other conduits that later moved funds to his congressional campaign account. A second complaint, filed in 2021, accused him of violating federal campaign regulations after airing statewide television ads and assembling a campaign team that appeared to position him as a Senate candidate. Both cases were dismissed by the FEC.
The mutual exchange left a clear impression: two Republican congressmen each carrying ethics baggage, each eager to make the other's record the story. For Georgia primary voters, the question is whether either man emerges from the crossfire with enough credibility to take on Ossoff in November, a contest Republicans cannot afford to lose as they work to protect their thin Senate majority.
While Carter and Collins spent their time on opposition research, Derek Dooley took a different tack. The former college football coach largely stayed above the fray and cast himself as the candidate untainted by Washington's culture of self-dealing.
"It's time we start sending a different kind of leadership to Washington because Congress is not working for the people the way it used to. We've seen a rise in careerism, we've seen a rise in corruption, but mostly it's the inaction, where we're yelling and screaming and we're not working together to deliver results for the people of Georgia."
The implicit jab at both Carter and Collins was hard to miss. Dooley has framed his campaign around a "Georgia First" vision and positioned himself as the outsider alternative in a field dominated by career politicians. He is polling in third place, though specific numbers were not disclosed during the debate.
Dooley carries one significant institutional advantage: the endorsement of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Whether that support, and the Sunday night contrast between his composure and the Carter-Collins slugfest, translates into primary votes remains an open question. Republican voters anxious about a deteriorating political environment heading into 2026 may find the outsider pitch appealing, or they may decide the seat is too important to hand to a first-time candidate.
No Republican primary in 2026 escapes the gravitational pull of President Trump, and Georgia's Senate race is no exception. All five candidates aligned themselves with the president during Sunday's debate, lauding his military operation in Iran and his push to acquire Greenland. A Trump endorsement has not yet materialized, and the possibility of one looms large over the contest.
The broader Republican landscape adds urgency. Primary season has already rattled the party's razor-thin congressional margins, and the Georgia Senate seat is one of the GOP's best pickup opportunities. Ossoff won his seat in January 2021 during the twin Georgia runoffs that flipped the chamber to Democrats. Republicans view reclaiming it as essential to holding or expanding their majority.
That makes the Carter-Collins dynamic all the more frustrating for Republicans focused on the general election. Every hour spent litigating who misused taxpayer funds or failed to disclose a land purchase is an hour not spent defining Ossoff's record. Ethics allegations, whether the OCC report on Collins or the now-dismissed FEC complaints against Carter, hand Democrats ammunition they will happily use in the fall, no matter which Republican emerges.
Meanwhile, internal Republican divisions on policy, from the Iran conflict to spending fights, continue to test the party's unity heading into the midterms. A bruising Georgia primary that drags into a June runoff will shorten the runway for the eventual nominee to consolidate support and raise general-election money.
Early voting begins Monday. Georgia Republicans will choose among five candidates: two congressmen carrying dueling ethics clouds, a former football coach backed by the governor, a former Senate candidate, and a retired brigadier general. The field is wide enough that a runoff appears almost certain.
The debate laid bare the central tension in this primary. Carter and Collins each believe the other's record disqualifies him. Dooley believes both men prove his point about Washington careerism. And somewhere in the background, Jon Ossoff is watching all of it.
Republican voters in Georgia deserve a nominee who can win in November, not one who limps out of a primary defined by mutual destruction. Sunday's debate suggested the party hasn't settled that question yet, and the clock is running.