EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senate Hopeful Torches Vulnerable Dem Opponent For Keeping Government Closed

Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter’s Senate campaign rolled out a new ad on Friday torching Democratic Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff for repeatedly voting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to shut down the government, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

Carter’s ad blames Ossoff for roughly 1.3 million active-duty service members likely missing their next paycheck due to the shutdown and accuses him of supporting taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal immigrants. Despite Ossoff being the most vulnerable Democratic senator up for reelection in 2026, he has voted against a bipartisan spending bill on seven separate occasions that would restore government funding. (RELATED: Democrats Stick By Schumer After He Claimed ‘Every Day Gets Better’ During Shutdown)

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The 30-second spot is part of a seven-figure statewide ad buy that will run on broadcast, cable, streaming platforms and direct mail.

Carter joined nearly all House Republicans in supporting a clean extension of government funding levels in September to avert a shutdown.

Three Senate Democratic caucus members have crossed party lines to support the House-passed measure, but Ossoff has yet to join them. The government shutdown would end if just five more Democrats voted for the bipartisan spending bill that would temporarily fund the government.

With the funding lapse having no end in sight, U.S. service members are likely to miss their next paycheck on Oct. 15.

“Instead of paying our soldiers, ‘shutdown Jon’ voted to shutter the whole government five times and counting,” the ad’s narrator says. “Our troops went without because Jon Ossoff loves illegals more than us.”

“Don’t let ‘Shutdown Jon’ sacrifice your values again,” the ad’s narrator continues.

A spokesperson for Ossoff did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Ossoff supports Democrats’ counter-funding measure that would enact roughly $1.5 trillion in new spending to fund the government temporarily. Republicans have argued that the legislation’s health care provisions would allow noncitizens and some illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits.

The ad also includes positive messaging about Carter, who has frequently referred to himself as a “MAGA warrior.” He sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Thursday calling for an investigation into organizations bankrolled by left-wing megadonor George Soros for potential involvement in “politically-motivated violence,” the DCNF first reported.

Carter is one of three Republican hopefuls vying to challenge Ossoff in the general election. Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are also vying for the GOP nomination.

Recent polling shows a relatively wide-open race, but Collins has thus far led the primary field.

Though Republicans view Ossoff’s seat as a prime pickup opportunity, the Georgia Democrat is building a massive war chest to defeat a GOP challenger. The incumbent senator raised $12 million between July and September and enters the year’s fourth fundraising quarter with $21 million in the bank.