Georgia elections: Live updates from Atlanta Press Club debates

Thirteen debates stretching over eight days.

Three more weeks until Election Day in this pivotal midterm. Stick with us at the AJC to bring you urgent news from the campaign trail. 

Republican Mike Collins got in a few more punches in his closing statement. He said Ossoff treats Georgia as a platform.

"I need your help," Collins pleaded with voters.

While Ossoff spent most of his time during the debate attacking Collins, he focused his closing statement on his record in Congress. He noted he voted to "cap the cost of insulin at $35 for Medicare."

"I hope I've earned your support," he said.
 

Each of the candidates were asked what they would do to help Georgians who are feeling the pinch of rising prices. 

Ossoff said he would ensure Congress repeals President Trump's tariffs, ends the war with Iran and reverse the cuts to Medicaid found in the One Big Beautiful Act.

"It's the same bill that cut Medicaid, that took that money from your healthcare and gave it to data center developers," he said.

Collins said he would focus on energy independence by encouraging the opening of more U.S. refineries. And he also said Congress should make healthcare more affordable.

"Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, has been a disaster," he said.

A deadly school shooting in Georgia last year prompted a big push for gun restrictions. But Georgia lawmakers have instead focused on increasing school security.

Collins continued that strategy in answering a question about federal background checks for private gun sales.

"No. We have plenty of checks right now," he said. 

Collins said there are many other ways to make schools safer, including installing metal detectors.

"You've got to go through a metal detector to get into the airport? That's to get on a plane? We don't want to do that for our kids and our children out there?"

The board of the Office of Congressional Conduct in January recommended that the House Ethics Committee launch an investigation of U.S. Rep. Mike Collins.

Collins during Tuesday night's debate said the board is not credible. 

"The Office of Congressional Conduct is a group of lawyers that Nancy Pelosi put in place when she was the speaker," he said. "They're not even my peers. They're not elected members of Congress."

Two former Republican members of Georgia's delegation serve on the Office of Congressional Conduct board, including Jody Hice, Collins' predecessor in Georgia's 10th District.

The other is Lynn Westmoreland, who served in Congress for a decade.

It was bound to happen. 

Republican Mike Collins is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for misusing taxpayer money in his congressional office. Democrat Jon Ossoff brought it up during a question about the federal deficit.

"You want to talk about waste fraud and abuse? How about a congressional office under federal investigation for the illegal misuse of tax dollars?" he said.

Collins dismissed a report from the Office of Congressional Conduct as a document from "a group of lawyers that Nancy Pelosi put in place when she was the speaker."

Collins called the investigation "a political hit job", and he said Democrats are keeping it going so Ossoff can continue to dodge questions about his record.

Ossoff said Collins' position on abortion has changed, because when he was running for Congress four years ago he said he supported banning abortions "without exception."

Collins said he support's Georgia's current abortion law. 

"The Georgia Legislature got it right that the governor and Legislature allowed for three exceptions with the heinous rapes or incest or in the life of the mother," Collins said.

Ossoff said he supports "the standard of privacy that was established in Roe v. Wade" when it comes to abortions.

Collins clarified that four years ago when he said "without exception" he didn't mean a total ban, but he said he had no reservations about supporting Georgia's ban and it's limitations.

Asked a question about closing the wealth gap for Black families, Collins brought up the housing bill passed by Congress that, among its provisions, would limit corporations from buying up rental properties.

Collins falsely stated that Ossoff voted against the legislation. Ossoff corrected him and noted that it was President Donald Trump who did not support the bill and allowed it to become law without his signature.

Later in the debate, Ossoff accused Collins of voting to double health insurance premiums, which is a reference to Republicans' refusal to expand Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Collins' response was to point to Ossoff's decision not to support the One Big Beautiful Act, which included a series of tax credits and cuts.

Democrat Jon Ossoff used a question about maternal health to tout his support for Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Bottoms and Ossoff have been campaigning together across Georgia this election cycle. But the Republican side has been more fractured.

Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson has not appeared much with Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins. However, both are expected to campaign with President Donald Trump in Dalton this weekend.

One of Democrat Jon Ossoff's perceived weaknesses are some of his votes to deny arms sales to Israel with its war against Hamas in Gaza.

Ossoff, who is Jewish, earned the ire of some Jewish communities for his votes. 

"Israel had every right to go to war with Hamas," he said. "I also believe it's the right of U.S. senators to ensure American laws and international laws are being respected by those who fight with our weapons."