Derek Dooley posts $1.1M quarter in Georgia GOP Senate bid
Republican Derek Dooley has more than $2.1 million cash on hand for his U.S. Senate campaign after raising another $1.1 million in the final months of 2025, his campaign said Thursday.
The former football coach is jockeying with U.S. Reps. Buddy Carter and Mike Collins to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Dooley’s fundraising haul pales in comparison to Ossoff, who kicked off 2026 with a campaign account topping $25 million. But he’s outpacing Republicans in past wide-open Senate races in 2014 and 2020.
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.
Carter and Collins have yet to report their latest fundraising totals. But Collins and Dooley raised about $2 million through September, while Carter reported roughly $1 million and lent his campaign another $2 million.
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.”
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
