Rep. Mike Collins wins Georgia’s GOP Senate nomination and will face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff

JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — Rep. Mike Collins on Tuesday defeated first-time candidate Derek Dooley for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Georgia, advancing to face Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff for a seat that will help determine control of Capitol Hill for the final years of Donald Trump’s second presidency.

The president, who endorsed Collins on Sunday, will be a key fault line in the general election matchup.

The second-term congressman has identified with the president since he first won his House seat in north Georgia in 2022. A trucking company owner and son of a congressman, Collins campaigns as a self-described “MAGA warrior” and echoes Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election loss in Georgia and nationally was rigged. Dooley, a former football coach who had the support of outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, did not ratify Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.

The other big race on the ballot on Tuesday — the GOP nomination for governor — was won by billionaire businessman Rick Jackson, whose campaign has spent more than $100 million, much of it from the first-time candidate’s personal fortune. He outpaced Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the president’s pick who was once part of Trump’s scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Collins will face Democratic nominee and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Despite Collins’ all...