The three Republicans competing to unseat U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff are piling up seven-figure campaign accounts. But they still trail far behind the Democrat’s financial juggernaut.
Republican Derek Dooley’s campaign said Thursday the former football coach ended 2025 with more than $2.1 million cash on hand after raising another $1.1 million in the final months of the year.
U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter said he’ll report an even larger warchest. He loaned himself another $1 million and raised roughly $700,000 during the three-month period. He now has more than $4 million in his account, buoyed by $3 million in loans since launching his bid.
Dooley and Carter are jockeying alongside U.S. Rep. Mike Collins to take on Ossoff, who kicked off 2026 with a campaign account topping $25 million. Collins has yet to report his total.
Ossoff is the only Democratic Senate incumbent on the midterm ballot in a state carried by President Donald Trump in 2024, making his race one of a handful likely to determine control of the chamber.
But senior Republicans are increasingly uneasy about their chances of flipping the seat amid divisions over Trump and an unsettled GOP field.
Gov. Brian Kemp is putting his political machinery to work for Dooley, betting that only a political outsider without a long voting record can unseat Ossoff in November.
Dooley campaign chair Don Leebern III — a well-connected GOP fundraiser — said the numbers show Dooley will have the resources to go on offense against Ossoff.
“With Derek at the top of the ballot and Gov. Kemp’s strong support,” he said, “Republicans have the best chance of taking down the Democrats and giving our state a senator who actually represents us.”
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