Republican leaders rally behind Mike Collins amid lingering divisions

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Test your knowledge with our Friday news quiz.
• Clay Fuller questions record federal loan for new Tennessee toll lanes.
• A surprising Georgia Republican joined Chinese President Xi Jinping’s White House dinner guest list.

GOP reinforcements

Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at the annual Georgia Chamber Eggs & Issues breakfast at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in January. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Gov. Brian Kemp mounted what seemed like a rescue mission Thursday for Republican Senate nominee Mike Collins, rallying donors at a moment when party leaders are openly debating whether Georgia is still worth the investment.

The show of support came with money attached. Collins raised a reported $400,000 at the event, according to his campaign. And the Thune-aligned Senate Leadership Fund is putting another $1.7 million into the race against Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Still, that’s only another fraction of the more than $60 million promised by national GOP groups. And Thune was candid about the battleground map, with the GOP now defending once-safe seats in Iowa, Texas and even Kansas.

He told the crowd there were a “lot of races in play,” attendees told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while working to calm lingering GOP divisions over Collins.

“There were different opinions about candidates in the primaries, but this is when we come together,” Thune said at the closed-door gathering.

That was no small detail in a room packed with the sort of establishment Republicans who worried a pro-Donald Trump warrior — who describes himself as “MAGA Mike” — would get clobbered in November.

Chief among them is Kemp, who backed Derek Dooley in the primary and repeatedly argued Collins carried too much baggage to win a general election. Now he’s helping close ranks.

Kemp framed the final stretch as a turnout battle, telling the crowd “it’s a shirts and skins game now” and that both sides depend on mobilizing their bases.

The gathering had the feel of a traditional Georgia GOP reunion.

Former U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Mack Mattingly, Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon, and longtime Kemp allies Sam Holmes and Ben Tarbutton were in the crowd.

Thune, who earlier tried to recruit Kemp for the race, also needled Kemp about his own political future, joking that “there’s another Senate race in 2028 here.” First lady Marty Kemp joined in the laughter, according to attendees.

Democrats made sure the evening wasn’t only about GOP unity. In a virtual news conference, Ossoff mocked Collins for his tight embrace of President Donald Trump and pressed Thune to answer for damaging reports involving people in Collins’ orbit.

“Sen. Thune needs to answer whether he will denounce Mike Collins’ extensive ties to white nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology,” Ossoff said.

Friday news quiz

The Georgia state Capitol dome is shown through the windows of the Nathan Deal Judicial Center. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Good morning! How closely did you follow the news this week? Find out by taking our quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end of the newsletter.

Which Georgia elected official is working with an Alabama Republican on national standards for license plate readers?

• A) Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens
• B) Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr
• C) Lt. Gov. Burt Jones
• D) U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock

How many seats do Democrats need to flip to win control of the Georgia House for the first time since 2004?

• A) 6
• B) 8
• C) 10
• D) 12

According to voting records, what issue has surfaced involving Georgia House candidate David Dillie?

• A) He failed to register to vote before the 2026 primary election.
• B) He cast ballots in both Georgia and Nevada during the 2026 primary elections.
• C) He changed his party affiliation shortly before the primary election.
• D) He voted in Georgia while serving as an election official.

Which key Republican went from hardly speaking with gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson to sharing a stage with him last weekend?

• A) U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter
• B) Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon
• C) Lt. Gov. Burt Jones
• D) Gov. Brian Kemp

Toll trouble?

U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller (left) chats with House Speaker Mike Johnson ahead of a swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in April. (Nathan Posner for the AJC)

U.S. Rep. Clay Fuller is raising concerns about a record-setting federal loan for Tennessee’s new I-24 toll lanes, a financing fight with potential implications for Atlanta’s massive express-lane plans.

In a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, the Republican questioned whether Tennessee officials would wind up borrowing more than $10 billion and “crowd out other viable and important projects nationwide.”

Here’s the Georgia connection: The Ferrovial/Cintra-led team that won the Tennessee project is also one of three finalists competing to build and operate the I-285 East Express Lanes. GDOT is expected to select a winner within weeks.

State dinner

U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue (left) and his wife, Bonnie Perdue, walk to the White House to attend a state dinner hosted for China’s President Xi Jinping on Thursday in Washington. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China and former Georgia U.S. senator, attended Thursday night’s state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping. So did Georgia’s other former U.S. senator, Kelly Loeffler, the head of the Small Business Administration.

But the other Georgian who attended was a bit more surprising: U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Suwanee. McCormick, who is considering a Senate run in 2028, has been working to build his relationship with Trump, who he did not initially endorse during the 2024 primary season.

McCormick also has been among the lawmakers who have raised concerns about the rise of democratic socialism and compared it to communism. This week he filed a bill to update a rarely enforced law outlawing the Communist Party so that membership in the Democratic Socialists of America is also criminalized.

Days later, he attended a White House dinner in honor of China’s Communist president and described it as an amazing experience. McCormick told us Friday morning there is no contradiction.

“Just because you wanted to have the first- and second-most powerful people in the world eating together and working things out together doesn’t mean they’re going to be the same,” McCormick said. “We should understand that America should not be China, and that America should never fall to a Communist Party way of life.”

Listen up

The “Politically Georgia” podcast if off today. We’ll be back Monday for our Monday Mailbag episode.

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Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Senate split

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff (left) and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock speak to reporters in Covington in May 2024. (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

When the U.S. Senate convenes next week, lawmakers are expected to take a final vote on the Protect College Sports Act that sets caps on how much money schools can directly pay athletes and new standards for eligibility and healthcare.

During a series of procedural votes on the bill, Georgia’s senators repeatedly found themselves on opposite sides.

Ossoff voted alongside the bipartisan majority to advance the bill every time a vote was taken. His counterpart, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, was among those voting against the legislation and expressing concerns that it doesn’t do enough to help athletes.

The issue has racial undertones. Black Democrats have been among the most vocal critics of the bill, saying it will keep powerful programs and coaches rich without ensuring players on the field share in the wealth. Besides Warnock, the two other Black Senate Democrats also voted against advancing the bill: New Jersey’s Cory Booker and Maryland’s Angela Alsobrooks.

Booker, in an interview with Politico, criticized the Democrats who voted with Republicans to move the bill forward, calling it “stunning.”

“This is insane to me, especially because the revenue sports are disproportionately African American,” he said. “When has the Democratic Party stood up for taking away rights from disadvantaged minorities? When have we ever done what we’re about to do right now? It is wrong. It is unjust, and it will disproportionately affect African Americans.”

Ossoff has said that the bill is flawed but an improvement of the status quo where policies vary by school and athletic conference. Although he has indicated support for the package in procedural votes, he said he has not made up his mind on how he will vote when it comes to final passage.

Today in Washington

• Trump and first lady Melania Trump will tour the National Archives with Xi and his wife.
• The Senate is done for the week, returning on Monday.
• The House is out until after the midterm elections.
• Warnock will speak on faith and politics at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, and it will air on C-SPAN.

Cancer diagnosis

State Sen. Mike Hodges, R-St. Simons Island, speaks at the state Capitol in March 2023. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

State Sen. Mike Hodges, R-St. Simons Island, revealed Wednesday he has pancreatic cancer and is undergoing treatment.

The two-term lawmaker told The Brunswick News the treatment has been a “net benefit” thus far and that he intends to continue in his role as senator representing Georgia’s southeasternmost six counties.

Hodges is running unopposed in the Nov. 3 general election.