Georgia GOP feud erupts over shutdown messages in critical Senate race

Georgia Republicans are locked in a bitter civil war over the government shutdown and a crucial primary race to try to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Although currently held by Ossoff, the Georgia Senate seat is considered highly competitive, with Republicans having a real chance of flipping the seat red in 2026. Ossoff won the seat in 2021 in a very close runoff, defeating former Republican Sen. David Perdue by a margin of just 1.2%.

This race is considered very critical for Republicans to protect their majority in the Senate. However, that did not stop Republicans from diving headlong into a bitter feud over the government shutdown that just ended last week.

Controversy exploded when a political group aligned with Republican Gov. Brian Kemp released an attack ad criticizing Republican officials. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter about the government shutdown and suggested that “political outsider” Derek Dooley, a former Tennessee football coach, was needed to set the record straight.

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From left: Derek Dooley, Rep. Mike Collins, Rep. Buddy Carter and Sen. Jon Ossoff (@DerekDooleyGA via X; Bill Clark via Getty Images; official portrait of U.S. House Representative Buddy Carter; Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)

The ad asked, “What do Mike Collins, Buddy Carter and Jon Ossoff have in common?” They all failed and shut down the government.

“That’s what happens when you send career politicians to Washington,” the narrator says.

The ad drew sharp criticism from sections of the Georgia Republican Party, calling it a betrayal of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s national message that the shutdown was Democrats’ fault.

Kemp, who is in the middle of his second term as governor, endorsed Dooley in the primary race.

Collins lashed out at

“Not only is this contrary to the message of President Johnson, Leader Thune, and President Trump, it is also out of touch with reality,” Collins wrote.

He continued: “Myself and Buddy Carter did our job and passed a clear, nonpartisan continuing resolution that funds the government. »

A few days later, Collins’ campaign released a Veterans Day ad attacking Dooley for saying in a interview that he “probably went 20 years” without voting for a presidential candidate, including missing five opportunities to vote for Trump. The ad criticized Dooley for not voting while Georgia’s military service members “find a way to vote by mail.”

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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has endorsed Derek Dooley for Senate. (@DerekDooleyGA via X)

Dooley in turn accused Collins of “using Veterans Day to score political points,” which he said “tells you everything you need to know about typical politicians.”

He said that “like millions of others, I proudly stepped off the bench and voted for President Trump in 2024” and “unlike many career politicians in Washington, I strive to earn trust the right way: with honesty, humility, respect for all Georgians, and without accepting business as usual.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Carter spokesperson Harley Adsit called the ad a “desperate attempt” by Dooley “to salvage his failed campaign.”

Adsit accused Dooley of “selling out to the radical left” and “taking a leaf out of Jon Ossoff’s playbook, attacking conservatives and turning his back on President Trump and Georgia’s hard-working families.”

“(Carter) proudly voted to keep the government open – it’s Dooley, Jon Ossoff and the Democrats who are playing shutdown politics. Georgians deserve a MAGA warrior, not puppets trying to please the establishment elite,” she added.

Collins, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital, “Dooley is definitely a strange guy.”

“He’s been out of our state for 25 years and his first attempt at gainful employment upon returning is to run for office, but what’s even stranger is his campaign’s decision to attack congressional Republicans and goes against President Trump’s message, and frankly the reality, that the Democrats actually caused the shutdown,” Collins said, adding, “I’m not sure if he and his team’s hatred of Trump is the driving force behind their strategy or if it’s just a real ignorance of what’s going on it’s happening at the federal level, but it’s certainly not a winning formula for next November.”

Meanwhile, in a statement to Fox News Digital, Dooley spokesperson Connor Whitney touted him as the most viable candidate to flip the seat red by defeating Ossoff.

“Political outsider Derek Dooley clearly has the momentum in this race. From fundraising to grassroots support to high-level endorsements, it’s clear there is only one candidate who can take on Jon Ossoff next November,” Whitney said.

He noted that Dooley himself had been “solely focused on Jon Ossoff’s failed record and providing the people of Georgia with a senator who truly represents their values,” adding, “that’s what he will continue to do as the Republican nominee.”

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Representative Mike Collins leaves the House Republican caucus meeting at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington on May 23, 2023. (Getty)

Whatever the outcome, the infighting sows trouble among the Republicans.

A Georgia GOP strategist told Fox News Digital, “The party in general needs to unify and not have complicated primaries. »

“Every day we have a primary is another day Ossoff can vote like he did during the shutdown. It’s another day he can stay out of the spotlight and we don’t knock him,” the strategist said. “So every day that this happens is a day that Jon Ossoff won. And that only makes our job harder in the summer when we finally have our nominee.”

The strategist said Dooley was “kind of running out of time,” adding that he needed to have significantly outperformed Collins and Carter to establish himself as a “legitimate candidate.”

The strategist said the exchange demonstrated that Dooley “doesn’t understand” the dynamics of Trump’s Republican Party.

“In Trump’s Republican Party, you earn trust by fighting, not by hiding on Election Day. You have to show that you’re part of the movement,” the strategist said, adding, “So Dooley is in a tough spot right now.”

Meanwhile, the strategist said: “Collins has a track record, Collins has been elected before, Collins has stood with the president many times, he passed an important bill in Congress.”

“So what’s the argument for taking action at this point? And if he doesn’t have the money to get a message across more than Collins does, then he doesn’t really have a chance.”

However, Deborah Dooley, a Georgia Tea Party activist who is no relation to the football coach turned politician, told Fox News Digital that “Derek Dooley is the only Republican with a credible path to victory in November” and “Collins, on the other hand, brings accountability that Democrats will aggressively weaponize.”

She did not back down from the ad’s shutdown message, saying, “House members and senators should have stayed in Washington without pay until they reached an agreement.”

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Senator Jon Ossoff arrives before a subcommittee hearing, September 13, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo)

“Jon Ossoff will be extremely difficult to unseat, and this race depends entirely on his electability,” she continued. “Democrats are already accusing Rep. Collins of racism and the GOP primaries won’t be held until next year. Republicans can’t afford to jeopardize another Senate seat.”

Watching all this from the outside, Georgia Democrats indicated they were optimistic about their chances of holding the seat in November.

Georgia Democratic Party spokesperson Devon Cruz told Fox News Digital, “Brian Kemp’s latest attempt to reinforce Derek Dooley’s failure and firing proves once again that Republicans are in for a long, nasty primary.”

“No matter who limps out of the primary, it is very clear that the eventual nominee will be badly bruised and beaten for the general election,” Cruz said.

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Kemp’s office responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by referring Fox News Digital to the governor’s political staff at Georgians First, Inc. The group did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Hardworking Georgians did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time of publication.