Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* In Georgia’s Republican Senate primary, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff made no secret of the fact that he hoped to see Rep. Mike Collins win the GOP nomination to run against him. That’s precisely what happened when the far-right congressman prevailed over former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley.
Some in the Republican Party aren’t exactly thrilled by the outcome.
“If you went to a laboratory and tried to create the worst general election candidate for this state and environment possible, you couldn’t do better than Mike Collins,” a prominent Georgia Republican strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told MS NOW.
“He has a ton of personal baggage and won’t be able to raise money. He possesses the unique ability to offend female voters with that personal baggage but also with the hardest right abortion stance you can have. He will lose the Atlanta metro in unprecedented fashion, and we have to hope he doesn’t take everyone else down with him,” the strategist said.
After Collins’ victory, Ossoff called him a “notorious bigot, antisemite and extremist,” while reminding voters that the Georgia Republican is currently facing a House Ethics Committee investigation.
* Speaking of Georgia, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has had a rough election cycle: In the GOP’s gubernatorial and Senate primaries, both candidates endorsed by the governor lost.