Republicans in Panic Mode Over Senate Seat They Thought They’d Flip: ‘A Recipe for Losing’

AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Republicans had eyed Georgia’s Senate seat as a target to flip from blue to red in 2026, but the current occupant is proving to be far more challenging to dethrone than they had expected, according to a report by Liz Goodwin at The Washington Post.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) has served in the U.S. Senate since winning a runoff election, along with his colleague Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), on Jan. 5, 2021 — one day before the infamous attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump.

Numerous political observers credited — or blamed, depending on the partisan orientation — Trump for Ossoff’s and Warnock’s wins, as the president had been furiously attacking the integrity of the 2020 election for weeks, dissuading Georgia Republicans from voting.

Ossoff was viewed by Republicans as having “ridden the coattails” of Warnock, the senior pastor at Martin Luther King Jr.’s former church in Atlanta, and initially thought to be more vulnerable to a challenge in 2026, wrote Goodwin. Trump won Georgia by two points in 2024, and the plan was to paint Ossoff as too liberal for a right-leaning southern state.

That plan has developed major cracks in its foundation, wrote Goodwin, in no small part because Ossoff has been ruthlessly disciplined. The Post’s report describes in detail Ossoff’s Senate office exhibiting “a hyper focus on local Georgia issues” and seeking “to provide excellent constituent services to any Georgian, regardless of their political affiliation,” taking inspiration from a Republican, the late Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA).

“I don’t crave attention. I’m not doing this for the spotlight,” Ossoff told the Post. “I want to do a great job for the state.”

Ossoff has largely avoided the social media traps that have ensnared other progressive Democrats by creating sound bites for GOP attack ads. One anonymous Republican strategist admitted to the Post they were “not feeling bullish” about being able to defeat Ossoff, because he “has wisely avoided the temptation of going on cable news for six years and playing to the base for social media likes. … I think he’s going to reap the benefits of that.”

Georgia Republicans are also embroiled in a tough primary battle. It’s not nearly as fiery as the one currently blazing in Texas, but they are still “lamenting their bitterly divided primary field made worse by a recruiting failure” when Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) decided not to run.

Most recent polls show the lead in the primary is held by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) in the lead, “a close Trump ally with a blisteringly MAGA social media presence that could alienate moderate voters,” wrote Goodwin, and the Cook Political Report currently rates the general election for whichever Republican takes on Ossoff a “Toss-Up.”

The Post obtained a recording of remarks Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), one of Collins’ primary opponents, made to a Republican event in Roberta, Georgia, in which the congressman was blunt about the challenges of defeating Ossoff.

“Look, this guy’s no slouch,” said Carter. “He’s pretty sharp, he’s articulate, he’s young, he’s handsome, he talks well. You better have somebody who can go toe to toe with him.”

Republicans in Georgia and in D.C. still were publicly listing the Peach State as their “top pickup opportunity in the Senate,” wrote Goodwin, “[b]ut behind closed doors, Republicans have tamped down their hopes of unseating” Ossoff, who has also proven to be a “powerhouse fundraiser.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (D-NC), who is retiring this year, told the Post Ossoff had done “a good job presenting as a moderate candidate,” even though he did not view his Democratic colleague as truly moderate, and that presented a risk to Republicans they could lose independent and moderate GOP voters they desperately need if a more extreme right-wing candidate wins the primary.

“If these people want a purity test and they put somebody forth that’s the darling of the MAGA base, but doesn’t resonate with unaffiliated [voters] and right of center fiscal Republicans, that’s a recipe for losing,” said Tillis.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!