Georgia Rep. Collins will challenge Ossoff in high-profile Senate matchup

Rep. Mike Collins, Georgia's Republican U.S. Senate nominee, speaks to supporters on May 19 in Jackson, Ga. Jason Allen/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jason Allen/Getty Images Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly . ATLANTA — Republican Rep. Mike Collins has won a primary election runoff and will challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in November, according to a race call by The Associated Press. The Collins-Ossoff matchup will be closely watched nationally as the major political parties vie for control of the Senate. Collins beat former football coach Derek Dooley, who had the backing of term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp, in the Republican runoff. President Trump backed Collins, but did not wade into the Senate race officially until after early voting ended for the runoff, issuing a lengthy post backing Collins in the early hours Sunday morning. In Trump's endorsement post, he dinged Dooley as someone who did not have strong ties to Georgia or to his policies, and for correctly saying that Trump lost Georgia's 2020 presidential election. "I don't know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person," Trump wrote. …