Overview

• Derek Dooley officially launched his Republican campaign on August 4 to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s 2026 Senate election.
• Gov. Brian Kemp has endorsed Dooley, tapping a political outsider with deep football ties, while President Trump has yet to declare his preference.
• Dooley presented himself as an outsider in a launch video that emphasized border security, spending restraint and keeping transgender women out of women’s sports.
• He joins U.S. Representatives Buddy Carter and Mike Collins in a crowded primary that Georgia Republicans view as essential to flipping the seat in a swing state.
• The GOP considers Ossoff’s seat its best chance to expand a narrow Senate majority and is working to avoid past candidate missteps in Georgia’s primaries.