Republican Buddy Carter's Chances of Beating Jon Ossoff in Georgia—Polls
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A new poll shows Republican Representative Buddy Carter with a lead over other potential candidates in the GOP primary for Georgia's 2026 Senate race to face off against Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in the general election next November.
Newsweek reached out to the Carter and Ossoff campaigns for comment.
Why It Matters
Georgia's Senate race will likely be one of the most closely watched elections of the 2026 midterms. It's a must win for Democrats in their efforts to flip the Senate majority next year, but Republicans are hoping to make it competitive after the state narrowly backed President Donald Trump in last year's presidential race. The outcome of the race could have key implications for which party holds a critical majority in the coming years.
What to Know
Carter, a Republican whose district includes Savannah and other coastal areas, led other Republicans in a new internal poll of the primary field reported by NOTUS. The poll, however, found that many Georgia Republicans are still unsure about who they plan to support in the primary, meaning it could become a competitive race.
Representative Buddy Carter attends the AFI 50th Anniversary Gala at The Library of Congress on November 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Senator Jon Ossoff speaks t a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia on March 9,...
Representative Buddy Carter attends the AFI 50th Anniversary Gala at The Library of Congress on November 1, 2017, in Washington, D.C. Senator Jon Ossoff speaks t a campaign event in Atlanta, Georgia on March 9, 2024. Morefor American Film Institute;Carter received support from 27 percent of the poll's respondents, followed by Representative Mike Collins at 18 percent. Ten percent said they are planning to back Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, while two percent are supporting Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John King, according to NOTUS. Notably, neither Collins nor Raffensperger have made official campaign announcements.
If no candidate reaches 50 percent of the vote in the primary or general election, a runoff will be held. No candidate approached 50 percent in this poll.
The poll surveyed 970 likely Republican voters from June 8 to June 10, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
How Does Buddy Carter Fare Against Jon Ossoff?
Recent polls suggest Ossoff has an advantage over Carter and other Republican candidates. Governor Brian Kemp, who has enjoyed strong approval ratings throughout his tenure, was viewed as the GOP's potential top recruit, but he declined to challenge Ossoff last month.
A Tyson Group poll, initially reported by The Daily Caller, showed Ossoff with an 8-point lead over Carter (47 percent to 39 percent), with 13 percent remaining unsure of whom they would vote.
Ossoff performed well with moderates in that poll—winning 64 percent of the key group compared to Carter's 15 percent. The survey polled 600 likely voters from January 30 to January 31, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
A Cygnal poll released last month showed a closer race, with 46 percent of respondents backing Ossoff compared to 42 percent who supported Carter. That poll surveyed 800 respondents from May 15 to May 17, 2025, and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.41 percentage points.
What People Are Saying
Nick Puglia, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Town Hall in May: "The race is just beginning and Republicans already have candidates within the margin against the most vulnerable 2026 incumbent Senator on the map. Jon Ossoff is a radical leftist who wants to raise taxes on Georgia families and is working every single day to impeach President Trump."
Ossoff's campaign manager Ellen Foster previously told Newsweek: "As we've said for the past few months, Senator Ossoff is well-prepared to defeat any challenger. As Republicans scramble in the aftermath, our campaign will continue to build insurmountable momentum needed to win next November."
What Happens Next
Candidates may still jump in over the coming months, and more polling could come out and indicate how competitive the race may become. The Cook Political Report currently rates Georgia as a pure toss-up for 2026.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Rhode Island lawmakers pass bill to ban sales of assault weapons
Rhode Island's Democratic-controlled state House on Friday approved legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of many semiautomatic rifles commonly referred to as assault weapons. The proposal now heads to the desk of Democratic Gov. Dan McKee, who has said he supports assault weapons bans. If the bill is signed into law, Rhode Island will join 10 states that have some sort of prohibition on high-powered firearms that were once banned nationwide and are now largely the weapon of choice among those responsible for most of the country's devastating mass shootings. Gun control advocates have been pushing for an assault weapons ban in Rhode Island for more than a decade. However, despite being a Democratic stronghold, lawmakers throughout the country's smallest state have long quibbled over the necessity and legality of such proposals. The bill only applies to the sale and manufacturing of assault weapons and not possession. Only Washington state has a similar law. Residents looking to purchase an assault weapon from nearby New Hampshire or elsewhere will also be blocked. Federal law prohibits people from traveling to a different state to purchase a gun and returning it to a state where that particular of weapon is banned. Nine states and the District of Columbia have bans on the possession of assault weapons, covering major cities like New York and Los Angeles. Hawaii bans assault pistols. Democratic Rep. Rebecca Kislak described the bill during floor debates Friday as an incremental move that brings Rhode Island in line with neighboring states. "I am gravely disappointed we are not doing more, and we should do more," she said. "And given the opportunity to do this or nothing, I am voting to do something." Critics of Rhode Island's proposed law argued that assault weapons bans do little to curb mass shootings and only punish people with such rifles. "This bill doesn't go after criminals, it just puts the burden on law-abiding citizens," said Republican Sen. Thomas Paolino. Republican Rep. Michael Chippendale, House minority leader, predicted that if the legislation were to become law, the U.S. Supreme Court would eventually deem it unconstitutional. "We are throwing away money on this," he said. It wasn't just Republicans who opposed the legislation. David Hogg — a gun control advocate who survived the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida — and the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence described the proposed ban as the "weakest assault weapons ban in the country." "I know that Rhode Islanders deserve a strong bill that not only bans the sale, but also the possession of assault weapons. It is this combination that equals public safety," Hogg said in a statement. Elisabeth Ryan, policy counsel at Everytown for Gun Safety, rejected claims that the proposed law is weak. "The weakest law is what Rhode Island has now, no ban on assault weapons," Ryan said. "This would create a real, enforceable ban on the sale and manufacture of assault weapons, just like the law already working in Washington state, getting them off the shelves of Rhode Island gun stores once and for all." Nationally, assault weapons bans have been challenged in court by gun rights groups that argue the bans violate the Second Amendment. AR-15-style firearms are among the best-selling rifles in the country. The conservative-majority Supreme Court may soon take up the issue. The justices declined to hear a challenge to Maryland's assault weapons ban in early June, but three conservative justices — Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas — publicly noted their disagreement. A fourth, Brett Kavanaugh, indicated he was skeptical that the bans are constitutional and predicted the court would hear a case "in the next term or two."
Axios
an hour ago
- Axios
MAGA courts the next generation of conservatives
Amid rising loneliness, economic anxiety and frustrations with the left, a growing share of Gen Z-ers are turning right. The big picture: The next generation of conservatives are in small towns and big cities, on college campuses and TikTok — and they're minting a new youth culture. "It's part of this shift among Gen Z post-Covid," says Rachel Janfaza, a youth political analyst."They got really tired of being told what they could or could not do and what they could or could not say." Stunning stat: Nowhere in the world are young men as lonely in comparison to other people in their country as they are in the U.S., per a recent Gallup poll. One in four U.S. men ages 15 to 34 said they felt lonely a lot of the previous day — a higher proportion than young American women (18%) and young men in other wealthy democracies. Economic anxiety is rampant. "More people who are Gen Zers, more men, than we might appreciate … aspire to a life that is not dissimilar, necessarily, from their parents and their grandparents in terms of the basic opportunity to meet someone, to fall in love, to create a life, have a family, have a home," says Harvard pollster John Della Volpe. "Each one of those things I just mentioned is probably more challenging today." In the middle of the chaos, many young men are courted by the right and feel alienated by the left. For a generation worried that typical milestones — like getting a job, finding a partner and buying a house — are out of reach, President Trump's campaign resonated. "I do think that what Republicans managed to communicate is, 'We like men, and we like the things men like,' whether that's UFC or whatever. And sometimes in politics, making people feel like you like them is kind of important," says Richard Reeves of the American Institute for Boys and Men. "Democrats didn't do any of those things. They didn't say 'we like you, we like the things you like.' In fact, sometimes there's even tendencies to say, 'We don't like the things you like, and we're not sure we like you.'" Case in point: Aidan Thompson, a 21-year-old undergraduate at Kansas, says he feels Democrats' message is that "the things that make men who they are are inherently evil" But Trump "seems like he's a billionaire that's just an American, like, he goes to UFC, he eats McDonald's, he watches wrestling and NASCAR, he knows tons of stuff about baseball," Thompson said. "He gets shot, and he immediately gets up and he holds up his fist like 'you can't kill me.' That's just so freaking awesome." Zoom out: Although there are more men than women in the conservative youth movement, plenty of young women are part of it too. By the numbers: 41% of 18- to 29-year-old women voted for President Trump in 2024, compared with 33% in 2020, per Tufts' Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. The intrigue: Many young men and women share similar frustrations with the Democratic Party — including gripes with political correctness and a sense that the left looks down on traditional gender roles. "The left has become the party of hall monitors, telling me no and giving me lectures," says Raquel Debono, an influencer and founder of "Make America Hot Again," a community of young conservatives in New York City. "There are a lot more conservative men than women. But people have neglected to mention that we've seen the counterculture rise from the feminist wave," she says. "Women want to feel like women again." Zoom in: This month, Turning Point USA's Young Women's Leadership Summit brought together thousands of conservative women in their teens and twenties. A common theme among speakers and attendees was that women should forego higher education and focus on becoming homemakers and mothers, The Cut's E.J. Dickson reports. "Feminism told women to chase their corporate dreams for their validation while their kids were eating seed oils and their marriages were collapsing," Alex Clark, a conservative influencer and one of the speakers at the event, said on stage. "Well, we're done pretending that a cubicle is more empowering than a countertop." Reality check: This brand of conservatism isn't the only option, Debono says. "What I don't like about the messaging on the right is that so much of the right has convinced young women that they have to give all of these things up to be a conservative woman," she says. Debono says she looks to working moms in Trump's administration, like press secretary Karoline Leavitt, as evidence that the "trad wife" model isn't the only way to be a woman on the right.
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
After a senator's posts about the Minnesota shootings, his incensed colleagues refused to let it go
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Lee has in recent years become one of the Senate's most prolific social media posters, his presence seen in thousands of posts, often late at night, about politics. Fellow senators have grown accustomed to the Utah Republican's pugnacious online persona, mostly brushing it off in the name of collegiality. That is, until this past week. His posts, after the June 14 fatal shooting of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, incensed Lee's colleagues, particularly senators who were friends with the victims. It all added to the charged atmosphere in the Capitol as lawmakers once more confronted political violence in America. As the Senate convened for the week, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., marched past a crowd of reporters and headed toward the Senate floor: "I can't talk right now, I have to go find Sen. Lee." Smith, whose name was listed in the suspected shooter's notebooks recovered by law enforcement officials, spoke to Lee for several minutes. The next day, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., did the same. By midday Tuesday, Lee had deleted his tweets. 'I would say he seemed surprised to be confronted,' Smith later told reporters. The shooting unfolds On the morning of June 14, Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., announced that former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, had been shot and killed in their home outside Minneapolis. Another Democratic lawmaker, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were critically injured, in a shooting at their home nearby. The next day, as police searched for the shooter, Lee posted a photo of the alleged shooter with the caption 'Nightmare on Waltz street" — an apparent misspelled attempt to shift blame toward Walz, who was his party's vice presidential nominee in 2024. In a separate post on his personal account, @BasedMikeLee, the senator shared photos of the alleged suspect alongside the caption: 'this is what happens When Marxists don't get their way.' On his official Senate social media account, Lee was 'condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families.' A spokesperson for Lee did not respond to a request for comment. The man arrested, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, held deeply religious and politically conservative views. After moving to Minnesota about a decade ago, Boelter volunteered for a position on a state workforce development board, first appointed by then-Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, in 2016, and later by Walz. Boelter has been charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Lee's online posts draw bipartisan backlash Once a critic of Donald Trump, Lee has since become one of the president's most loyal allies. Lee's online persona is well established, but this year it has become especially prominent: a Salt Lake Tribune analysis found that in the first three months of 2025, Lee averaged nearly 100 posts per day on X. What was different this time was the backlash came not just from Democrats. To Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Lee's posts were 'insensitive, to say the least, inappropriate, for sure' and 'not even true.' 'I just think whenever you rush to a judgment like this, when your political instincts kick in during a tragedy, you probably should realign some priorities,' Cramer said. Republican state Rep. Nolan West wrote on social media that his respect for Lee had been 'rescinded.' A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., did not respond to a request for comment. Last Monday night, after Smith's confrontation with Lee, a senior member of her staff sent a pointed message to Lee's office. 'It is important for your office to know how much additional pain you've caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend,' wrote Ed Shelleby, Smith's deputy chief of staff. He added, 'I pray that Senator Lee and your office begin to see the people you work with in this building as colleagues and human beings.' Lee avoided reporters for much of the week, though he did tell them he had deleted the posts after a 'quick' discussion with Klobuchar. Lee has not apologized publicly. "We had a good discussion, and I'm very glad he took it down,' Klobuchar said at a news conference. Tragedy prompts reflection in Congress The uproar came at a tense time for the Senate, which fashions itself as a political institution that values decorum and respect. Senators are under intense pressure to react to the Trump administration's fast-paced agenda and multiple global conflicts. Republicans are in high-stakes negotiations over the party's tax and spending cuts plan. Democrats are anxious about how to confront the administration, especially after federal agents briefly detained Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., at a recent Department of Homeland Security news conference in California. Lawmakers believe it's time to lower the temperature. 'I don't know why Mike took the comments down, but it was the right thing to do,' said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M. 'I appreciate my Republican colleagues who were very clear with their observations. And those that spoke up, I want to commend them." He added: 'We just all have to talk to each other. And what I learned from this week is people need to lean on each other more, and just get to know each other more as well."
