The Georgia Republican Senate primary debate is this Sunday, April 26. And if the debate is going to resemble the way this race has played out thus far, then it’s going to be a nasty, messy affair filled with personal attacks, name-calling, and terrible policy proposals.
Setting the stage
The original plan was for the Georgia GOP to clear the field for Governor Brian Kemp to be the Republican nominee for Georgia’s Senate seat. But alas, Kemp announced in May of last year that he was not running.
Then, as one might expect, all hell broke loose.
Candidates quickly began filing their candidacies to fill the vacuum left by Kemp’s refusal, including MAGA Georgia congressmen such as Mike Collins and Buddy Carter. Then, Kemp decided to throw another wrench into this primary by endorsing his childhood friend, Derek Dooley, for the Republican nomination. Dooley is a football coach with a pedigree of mediocrity. But an endorsement from Georgia’s sitting governor was still enough to give Dooley’s campaign some legs, despite the fact that he only received 2% in a Georgia convention straw poll. All the candidates involved have vied for President Trump’s endorsement, but he has stayed out of the race thus far.
Let the infighting begin
Once the Republican Senate primary in Georgia became a three-man race, things quickly devolved into pettiness. All three Senate hopefuls have been taking turns cyberbullying each other on social media in a manner that you would more likely see from teenagers than political candidates.
Mike Collins seized the opportunity to mock Kemp endorsing his childhood friend, Dooley, by publishing a tweet with the satirical caption, “National Take Your Childhood Friend To Work Day.”
Dooley accused Collins of using taxpayer dollars to fund his campaign, painting him as a DC insider in order to boost his own image as the political outsider who will shake up the establishment. Collins quickly clapped back, denying the allegation and calling it “sloppy” and “inaccurate.”
Perhaps the most petty attack of the campaign thus far was hurled by Collins’s spokesman Corbin Keown at Buddy Carter. The Collins camp made fun of Carter’s height and voice by giving him the nickname, “Squeaker.”
Collins also mocked Carter over his private statements about Jon Ossoff, and how Republicans would be facing an uphill battle in the effort to unseat him. Collins’ campaign asked Carter to, “Please do the Republican team a favor and stop slobbering all over Jon.”
Dooley made sure to give as good as he got. His campaign shared a clip of Mike Collins slurring his words during a speech and warned, “Hard to beat Jon Ossoff with a guy who can’t speak.” Dooley’s campaign additionally tweeted a meme equating Collins’ oration skills to those of Joe Biden.
“No one can be sure how this debate is going to play out, but if there’s one thing that’s certain, it’s that the hostility and immaturity of these three candidates will be on full display,” said Gus Nathanson, spokesperson for American Bridge 21st Century. “Carter, Collins, and Dooley are more concerned with attacking each other than making life better for Georgians, and it would be a safe bet to say that Sunday’s debate will reflect that.
Read more about the candidates for Georgia’s Republican Senate primary
Derek Dooley:
- Derek Dooley is a nepo-baby who used his name and connections to achieve recognition in both the football and political worlds.
- Dooley admitted he only got coaching jobs because of his last name. Additionally, his friendship with Brian Kemp is what allowed his candidacy to gain traction in this primary.
- Dooley was a failed football coach with a reportedly awful demeanor. He consistently created hostility within the organizations he was a part of, and he was considered one of the worst head coaches in SEC history during his time at Tennessee, described as a “laughingstock” by fans and media. Despite not achieving any notable accolades as a coach, Dooley earned over $14.6 million from public universities during his coaching career.
- Dooley compared his football team’s struggles to those of Nazi Germany during World War II at Omaha Beach.
Mike Collins:
- Mike Collins was a chronically online internet troll who engaged in a number of questionable activities, such as sharing a video of white Ole Miss students taunting a Black woman during a protest and making racist gestures at her, as well as tweeting an endorsement of an antisemitic account attacking a reporter for being Jewish. He also mocked the assassination of John F. Kennedy and called for killing undocumented immigrants by referencing the Pinochet Air meme.
- Collins is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for allegedly misusing taxpayer funds to pay a “phantom intern,” the girlfriend of the aforementioned and problematic Brandon Phillips, who reportedly did no work.
- As a congressman, Collins has supported policies that would make life worse for Georgians, such as raising the retirement age, opposing the Affordable Care Act, and supporting a flat tax system that would disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Georgians.
- Collins also supported Trump’s economy-wrecking moves, such as tariffs and DOGE gutting the federal workforce. He is also a January 6th supporter and an anti-abortion extremist.
Buddy Carter:
- Buddy Carter is a career MAGA politician who supports those same policies that harm everyday Georgians, such as gutting Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security.
- Carter supports Trump’s tariffs that have made basic goods and necessities more expensive.
- Carter has significant ties to Big Pharma. His pharmacy faced a lawsuit over liabilities in opioid distribution, and his campaign accepted over $100,000 from his former pharmaceutical supplier.
Get more information about these Georgians’ petty squabbles and terrible policy stance at Research-Books.com
Published: Apr 24, 2026 | Last Modified: May 5, 2026