One of the marquee midterm races for Senate Democrats dreaming of a party takeover is between two candidates who are no strangers to cultivating viral moments.
But Democrats are banking on Sen. Jon Ossoff, with his tightly-choreographed campaign, ultimately prevailing over Rep. Mike Collins in the Georgia Senate race.
Democrats are looking to defend a state President Donald Trump won by just over two percentage points in 2024. Two years later, any misstep could carry enormous consequences.
However, Georgia Democrats and others who have worked with Ossoff — or seen him behind-the-scenes — say he is meticulous about how he communicates and oversees all the details of his campaign’s work. Michael Vainisi, a content strategist who has worked with Democratic presidents and senators in the past, described Ossoff’s speeches as “optimized for clipping.”
Ossoff’s speech over the weekend was no exception: From a Midtown Atlanta rally stage, he quipped of Trump, “He doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace, gifted by the Emir of Qatar.” He was referencing Natalie Harp, the president’s executive assistant.
The one-liner has since drawn backlash from Republicans — but also over 5 million views on X.
“He’s very, very involved in almost anything that kind of has his name on it or comes out of him,” said Seth Clark, a Georgia Democrat who has worked with Ossoff on statewide legislative priorities.
One Democratic operative close to the campaign said, “there are no decisions that get made that he doesn’t sign off on.”
Collins is also known for doing his own messaging and using social media to develop a personal brand. During the 2023 GOP speakers’ race, he gained national attention for peppering his social media feed with memes of his party’s chaotic sprint to replace Kevin McCarthy.
His X posts have also gotten him into trouble. In May 2024, for instance, Collins captioned a video of white students at the University of Mississippi taunting a black pro-Palestine protester with: “Ole Miss taking care of business.” He later had to issue a statement clarifying he did not condone “any form of discrimination — racism or otherwise.”
Public polling shows Ossoff currently leading Collins in the Georgia Senate race.
What else we’re watching:
— JOHNSON: DEMS IN IDEOLOGICAL ‘CIVIL WAR’: Speaker Mike Johnson on the campaign trail Monday aimed to stoke fears among voters that the Democratic Party is being overtaken by its far-left flank.
Democrats are “in the midst of an open civil war” between moderate and progressive factions, Johnson said at an event in Virginia while stumping for vulnerable Rep. Jen Kiggans — and added that House and Senate Minority Leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are powerless to stop it.
“They may say they’re not for some of the democratic socialists’ platform, but they’re going to have to bring these people into the fold,” Johnson said of the two leaders. “The energy, the excitement, the grassroots and the funding is on the side of the insurgent left in the Democrat Party. They don’t know what to do about it.”
Jeffries has pushed back on Republicans’ claim that his party is at war amid the pending influx of hard left members, insisting in recent days that there is room in the Democratic caucus for moderates and progressives alike.
In a conversation with reporters at the National Association for Black Journalists’ annual convention in Atlanta, Jeffries suggested that progressives’ ability to influence the House Democratic policy platform will depend on “what happens in terms of what the caucus looks like on the other side of the midterms.”
He also argued that all Democrats are currently united in focusing campaign messaging on “the notion that life is too expensive in the U.S.,” but that’s not to say that House Democrats are totally aligned on other policy matters. In an interview Sunday with NBC News, Jeffries put distance between himself and those calling to defund the police, abolish ICE and open up U.S. borders to all immigrants. Jeffries also would not commit to holding a vote on “Medicare for All” legislation.
Progressive members and candidates generally stayed mum in the aftermath of Jeffries’ comments, while the Republican National Committee taunted him for “dodg[ing] on if he would push socialist healthcare if Democrats take control of the House.”
— WHAT TO WATCH IN FLORIDA: The Sunshine State’s contentious primary season comes to a head today. Here are a few key things to look out for:
Rep. Byron Donalds is entering the day as the front-runner in the governor’s race, buoyed by an early endorsement from Trump as well as a substantial fundraising advantage. His rivals have gone after his long-ago criminal record while in college, as well as his stock trading while in Congress — but those attacks haven’t appeared to break through. Retiring Gov. Ron DeSantis declined to endorse a successor.
The outcome of Florida’s congressional races, meanwhile, could help determine which party wins the House majority this November.
Keep an eye on incumbent Rep. Cory Mills, who is under a House Ethics investigation and could give Democrats a potential target in the general if he prevails in his primary tonight against three GOP challengers.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was redrawn out of her old district by Republicans, is now running in a contentious primary for a seat that has been represented by Black lawmakers for more than 30 years.
And Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Lois Frankel are trying to hold their own against progressives Oliver Larkin and Victoria Doyle, respectively.
— GRAHAM VS. NORMAN DEBATE: Sen. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman outlined their campaign platforms during a joint candidates’ forum Monday — a preview of what voters might expect to see in tonight’s South Carolina Senate debate.
The two Republicans are competing in an Aug. 25 runoff to be their party’s nominee in the November election to succeed late-Sen. Lindsey Graham. Both are trying to sell their conservative credentials.
Graham was appointed to fill her brother’s seat in a temporary capacity by Gov. Henry McMaster and has Trump’s endorsement, but she has the challenge of having to introduce herself to the base as a political newcomer. She told forum attendees she supports ending the filibuster to pass a stalled GOP elections bill and opposes DEI policies, abortion and participation by transgender athletes in women’s sports.
She also emphasized that, unlike her brother who had an expertise in foreign affairs, her focus would be on domestic issues, and that she’d be “tougher on illegal immigration,” adding “if you’re here illegally, you should be deported immediately.”
Norman, a longtime member of the House Freedom Caucus who unsuccessfully ran in the gubernatorial primary earlier this year, highlighted his brand as an independent thinker. He doubled down on his opposition to earmarks despite Lindsey Graham’s history of securing funds for local projects, citing the country’s debt crisis: “We cannot keep going the way we’re going.”
He also tried tying his opponent to rich donors with corporate interests: “Every 15 seconds you see an ad that’s tearing me down. The lobbyists that they’re paying for their ads, the billionaires, I have none. I don’t answer to the swamp. That’s her. That’s who supports her.”
Erin Doherty, Alec Hernández, Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard contributed to this report.
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