Georgia Senate Primary Heats Up As Rep. Buddy Carter Blasts Rivals’ Records

Republican Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter called out his opponents in Georgia’s GOP Senate primary race.

Carter appeared Friday on the Ruthless podcast, where host Josh Holmes asked him to assess the “deficiencies” of his primary opponents, former football coach Derek Dooley and fellow Georgia Rep. Mike Collins. (RELATED: Trump Faces His Next Midterm Powder Keg In Georgia)

“If you look specifically at Collins or Coach Dooley, how do we match up? What are the deficiencies in the opponents?” Holmes asked Carter.

Carter first pointed to Dooley’s voting record.

“If he were running in the state of Tennessee he wouldn’t be eligible,” Carter alleged. He also claimed that Dooley has voted only once in the past two decades, describing him as a “nice guy” who lacked political experience.

Tennessee law requires candidates to be at least 25-years-old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and a resident of the state at the time of the election, according to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website.

Derek Dooley Spokesman, Connor Whitney, alleged to the Daily Caller that Carter is willing to misrepresent opponents to hold onto power.

“Career politicians like Buddy Carter will say and do anything to stay in power — including lie about their opponents. Like millions of other Americans, Derek watched Jon Ossoff enable the Biden-Harris agenda that drove us off a cliff and wants to help take our country back, something only a true outsider can do,” Whitney stated.

Dooley voted in 2022, supporting Kemp for reelection and casting his ballot for President Donald Trump in 2024. He reportedly did not vote in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Carter then addressed Collins in the interview, outlining what he views as vulnerabilities in a potential general election matchup against incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

“You go to Mike Collins colleague no question about that but you got baggage. I’m sorry. Two ethics complaints right now against him, that’s significant with the House of Representatives bipartisan committee—three Republicans, three Democrats, the votes 6 to 0 in both of those,” Carter alleged. “One of them includes, you know, paying an intern, a girlfriend or whatever, and not working. The other is misappropriating $400,000 of taxpayers’ money. That’s pretty serious, so there’s baggage and there are other things as well. But again I would just emphasize that I’ve got the experience, I’ve done the job and I’ll continue to do the job.”

A new ethics report about the office of Rep. Mike Collins R-GA says his Chief of Staff Brandon Phillips paid an intern for little office work – the intern was Phillips’ girlfriend. It was described as a ‘preexisting personal romantic relationship.’ https://t.co/lswgGmVWua pic.twitter.com/lfPiGeHtQh

— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 5, 2026

A Collins spokesperson, Corbin Keown, fired back at Carter’s comments regarding an ongoing House investigation.

He dubbed Carter “squeaker” and suggested he focus on his own campaign. (RELATED: Georgia GOP Governor Hopeful Owns Company Importing Foreign Nurses Over Americans)

“Squeaker, as they call him in Savannah, is in the middle of a tallest midget contest right now for last place and should focus accordingly because even when spending three times the field, he’s coming up short,” Keown told the Caller in a statement.