ATLANTA (AP) — About ten years ago, Jon Ossoff was a 30-year-old Democratic candidate for Congress who pitched Georgia suburban voters on cutting wasteful spending and holding both political parties accountable. His Republican opponent at the time even remarked that Ossoff sounded like a Republican.
That description would not apply today. After falling short in that 2017 race and then narrowly capturing a U.S. Senate seat in a 2021 runoff, Ossoff is now campaigning for reelection with an unrestrained assault on President Donald Trump, whom he labels a ‘national disgrace’ running a ‘Mar-a-Lago mafia’ and ‘the most corrupt administration of all time.’
The 39-year-old senator has long served as a focal point for anti-Trump energy, regardless of his specific campaign message. But only now has he fully leaned into that role. Democrats across the political spectrum are taking notice — from grassroots activists searching for the right message heading into the 2026 midterms to party members hoping to identify strong presidential contenders for 2028.
This week, as Trump once again pushed debunked claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election — the very race that sent Ossoff to Washington — the senator seized every opportunity to call Trump the ‘world’s most famous sore loser.’
‘The senator is definitely having a moment, and these breakout moments can certainly become a launching pad for something bigger,’ said Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who helped Pete Buttigieg transform from an obscure Indiana mayor into a presidential candidate in 2020. Smith said Ossoff’s strategy — connecting Trump’s personal financial interests to his economic record — is ‘one that more Democrats should adopt.’
Ossoff says his attention is squarely on ‘providing Georgians with the best possible service, investigating and exposing corruption and abuse, and winning this pivotal Senate race’ against Rep. Mike Collins, who secured the Republican nomination after Trump offered a last-minute endorsement ahead of a primary runoff.
Collins has pushed back, calling Ossoff ‘out-of-touch, far-left liberal’ and labeling him ‘weak’ and ‘woke.’
Still, Ossoff’s rising national profile — combined with exceptional fundraising numbers — has placed him in a far stronger position for reelection than many political analysts anticipated when Trump returned to the White House less than two years ago. As the only Democratic senator seeking reelection in a state Trump carried in 2024, holding this seat is essential for Democrats working to flip at least four seats and reclaim control of the Senate.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, himself up for reelection and mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, recently traveled to Georgia to campaign alongside Ossoff and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Moore called both candidates ‘fighters’ and said Ossoff is delivering the right message for voters who ‘want someone that will disrupt the status quo and do what’s necessary to make their lives easier as the Trump administration raises prices on everything from gas to groceries.’
Ossoff was largely unknown in political circles when he entered the 2017 congressional race. It was the first special election of Trump’s first presidency, triggered when Trump tapped Tom Price to serve as health secretary — a move that opened up a seat the administration assumed was safely Republican, given it had once been held by House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
At the time, Ossoff had worked as a congressional aide and founded a production company that made investigative documentaries. Despite his low profile, he quickly became a fundraising phenomenon as Democrats nationwide searched for ways to push back against Trump. He topped an initial all-party primary, drawing intense national focus to the runoff that followed.
‘The atmosphere of disarray and gridlock and dysfunction and chaos in Washington doesn’t serve the American people, and it’s not just this administration or this White House — it’s career politicians in Congress,’ he said during that campaign.
Ossoff ultimately lost that race to Karen Handel, a Republican who had previously served as Georgia’s secretary of state.
When he ran against Republican Sen. David Perdue in 2020, Ossoff maintained a methodical, policy-focused style. Georgia was not seen as a major battleground, and what early attention the state received was directed more toward Democrat Raphael Warnock, who was running in a special Senate election against Sen. Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler was viewed as more vulnerable than Perdue, having been appointed to her seat following the retirement of Johnny Isakson, who stepped down due to health problems.
The political landscape shifted dramatically when Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden carried Georgia and both Senate contests headed to runoffs, with control of the chamber at stake. Trump moved to challenge Biden’s victory and began a prolonged campaign of falsely claiming American elections are rigged, with Georgia at the center of those allegations.
Throughout his 2020 campaign, Ossoff kept his messaging trained on Perdue’s personal business dealings and the Republican response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During one debate, he did not bring up Trump at all. In another, when pressed on the president, he offered only a broad response.
‘That kind of leadership really only grows when there’s already been a destruction of faith in our political institutions,’ he said.
As a senator, Ossoff has developed relationships and a constituent services network across Georgia. He regularly announces funding for infrastructure, hospitals, and other programs — including in areas that lean heavily Republican. He spearheaded a congressional investigation into failures within Georgia’s child services system and has made veterans’ care a signature issue.
His 2026 campaign, however, has been defined by a stump speech built around a blistering critique of the president. He mocks Trump’s activity on Truth Social and his proposals to feature his own face on U.S. currency.
‘When he’s not posting, he’s been trying to rob us. Have you seen it?’ Ossoff asks crowds, before pivoting to what he describes as corruption and incompetence.
He runs through a list of grievances: Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, a proposed restitution fund that could benefit January 6th rioters, and foreign business dealings involving Trump’s sons, whom Ossoff refers to as ‘Prince Don and Prince Eric.’
He also attacks Trump’s tax cuts as benefiting the wealthy, his efforts to keep the Jeffrey Epstein case files sealed, and what he calls an Iran war ‘no one voted for and no one can explain.’
‘All this while you pay more for gas, for groceries, for healthcare,’ he tells audiences.
Ossoff still references a broader ‘rot’ in a ‘coin-operated’ political system that extends beyond Trump. But the lines that draw the biggest applause — which campaign staff clip and post across social media in real time — are aimed directly at the president.
‘He’s a failed president and a national disgrace,’ Ossoff says repeatedly on the trail.
Ossoff won his Senate seat while Trump was actively contesting Georgia’s 2020 results, and Trump has revived those claims as Ossoff seeks reelection. Trump has directed his administration to reopen the 2020 election investigation, and federal agents have seized hundreds of boxes of ballots from Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Atlanta.
Refusing to confirm that Biden legitimately defeated Trump has emerged as an informal requirement for serving in the current administration — a point Ossoff drove home while questioning Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee for national intelligence director.
‘Who won the 2020 election?’ Ossoff asked.
‘I’m not going to get into that with you,’ Clayton replied.
As Clayton continued to sidestep the question, Ossoff pressed: ‘Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question, to have to indulge the president’s delusions?’
Ossoff raised $20 million in the second quarter of 2026 and had $42 million remaining to spend. Collins raised approximately $2.1 million and held a similar amount in reserve. A 20-to-1 financial advantage gives Ossoff a significant edge as he works to hold his seat — and maintain his national visibility.
Smith offered one note of caution about Ossoff’s trajectory.
‘You can’t live off one great speech or one viral exchange,’ she said. ‘You have to prove you can perform in every format.’ The real test, she added, is how a politician goes ‘from flavor of the month to a more serious national political figure.’
