Georgia Republicans are settling their party’s nominations in high-profile runoff contests for U.S. Senate and governor on Tuesday. Beyond those marquee matchups, voters are also choosing nominees for congressional seats, state legislative districts, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and several other races where no candidate claimed a majority in the May 19 primary.
In the U.S. Senate race, U.S. Rep. Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are competing for the Republican nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November. Defeating Ossoff would give Republicans additional cushion as they work to hold onto competitive seats in Alaska, Maine, Ohio, North Carolina, and other states. The party can lose as many as three of its current 53 Senate seats and still retain control of the chamber, with Vice President JD Vance available to cast tiebreaking votes.
Collins led the five-person May 19 primary field with roughly 41% of the vote. He built that lead by running up strong margins in smaller, more rural counties throughout Georgia, as well as in some larger counties north of the Atlanta metro area.
Dooley’s route to the runoff looked quite different. He won just 14 of Georgia’s 159 counties, but those included five of the six most densely populated: Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb, and Clayton. He also carried Clarke County, home to the University of Georgia in Athens. His overall share of the primary vote was approximately 30%.
U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter finished a close third with about 25% of the vote. Those Carter supporters could now tip the scales toward either Collins or Dooley in the runoff.
Carter’s geographic base of support aligned much more closely with Collins than with Dooley. He performed strongest in the small, rural counties in southeastern Georgia — territory that largely overlaps with the 1st Congressional District he currently represents.
Both Carter and Collins are more closely tied to President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. Dooley, by contrast, has acknowledged that he did not vote in either the 2016 or 2020 presidential elections.
Trump stayed out of the primary but announced his endorsement of Collins on Sunday ahead of the runoff. Outgoing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp endorsed Dooley, a move that likely helped him edge out Carter for second place.
In the governor’s race, Trump did weigh in during the primary, backing Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who led the field with about 38% of the vote. Healthcare executive Rick Jackson came in second at approximately 33%. Kemp announced his endorsement of Jones on Sunday.
Similar to Collins, Jones built his primary lead by winning in small rural counties across the state. Jackson stayed competitive by narrowly winning larger counties, including Fulton County and several Atlanta-area suburbs.
Polls will close at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
The Associated Press will report vote totals and declare winners in primary runoffs for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, insurance commissioner, state school superintendent, labor commissioner, public service commissioner, and both chambers of the state legislature.
Under Georgia’s runoff rules, voters who participated in a partisan primary on May 19 may only cast a ballot in the runoff of the same party. Democratic primary voters cannot participate in the Republican runoff, and vice versa. However, registered voters who sat out the May 19 primary are eligible to vote in either party’s runoff.
As of May 28, Georgia had approximately 8.1 million registered voters on the rolls.
During the May 19 primaries, around 934,000 votes were cast in the Republican governor’s primary and roughly 913,000 in the Republican U.S. Senate primary.
Early in-person and mail-in ballots accounted for about 46% of all votes cast in the May 19 primary.
By Friday, approximately 119,000 Democratic and 222,000 Republican runoff ballots had already been submitted ahead of Tuesday’s election.
A significant portion of early voting results is expected to be released shortly after polls close, before most Election Day ballots are counted. About four out of five counties release nearly all of their early in-person results in the first vote update of the evening, and roughly two-thirds do the same with mail ballot results.
In the May 19 Republican primary for governor, the AP reported its first results at 7:13 p.m. ET — just 13 minutes after polls closed. The final update of that night came at 3:13 a.m. ET, with more than 99.9% of votes tallied.
The AP does not make projections. It will only declare a winner once it has determined that no remaining scenario could allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race remains uncalled, the AP will continue reporting on notable developments — such as a candidate conceding or claiming victory — while making clear that no official winner has been declared.
Georgia does not have an automatic recount provision, but a losing candidate may request one if the margin falls at or below 0.5% of the total vote. The AP may still call a winner in such a race if the lead is determined to be too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the result.
As of Tuesday, 140 days remain until the 2026 midterm elections.
