President Trump Endorses Mike Collins in Georgia Senate Runoff

President Trump endorsed Representative Mike Collins on Sunday in the Republican Senate primary runoff in Georgia, choosing a loyalist and immigration hard-liner over a former football coach who had angled for his support.

By backing Mr. Collins over Derek Dooley, a former football coach at the University of Tennessee, Mr. Trump gives the congressman a major lift as he seeks to win the nomination to take on Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, in one of the nation’s most competitive midterm battlegrounds.

“Mike Collins is a true Friend, Fighter, and WARRIOR, who has been with us from the very beginning, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be your next United States Senator,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media early Sunday morning, two days before the runoff.

Mr. Collins led Mr. Dooley by about 10 percentage points in an initial round of primary voting in mid-May that included another Trump acolyte, Representative Buddy Carter. Opinion polls have shown Mr. Collins leading Mr. Dooley in the head-to-head matchup.

But Mr. Dooley has the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, a popular Republican, and Republican strategists in the state had said they expected the runoff to be close. Mr. Trump’s move on Sunday could scramble that calculus. His endorsement has proved immensely powerful in Republican primary after primary in recent weeks, though his winning streak hit a snag in Iowa in early June. The strength of Mr. Trump’s support in the party will be tested again in several states holding contests on Tuesday.

While both remaining candidates in Georgia had vied for Mr. Trump’s support, his choice of Mr. Collins was not entirely unexpected. Mr. Collins, a trucking executive with a history of incendiary social media posts, was already positioning himself as the MAGA candidate. He sponsored the first bill Mr. Trump signed after returning to the presidency. The congressman’s campaign has also brought on some of the president’s political advisers, including Mr. Trump’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, and Tim Saler, a data analyst for his 2024 campaign.

“Georgians deserve a U.S. Senator who will fight for them every day to deliver real results, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” Mr. Collins wrote in a post on X thanking Mr. Trump. “It starts with firing Jon Ossoff in November. Let’s go get it!”

Mr. Dooley had worked to appeal to the president by visiting the White House for a lengthy meeting last summer and using a campaign slogan, “Georgia First,” that echoed the president’s “America First” message. Mr. Trump has a history of warming to sports figures who enter politics.

But Mr. Dooley’s chief political patron, Mr. Kemp, has had a tumultuous relationship with the president after refusing to join Mr. Trump’s effort to reverse the 2020 presidential election. As recently as 2024, Mr. Trump publicly referred to Mr. Kemp as a “bad guy,” though they smoothed out their public relationship by the election that year. Mr. Kemp has invested heavily in the race, joining Mr. Dooley at dozens of campaign events across the state.

In his post, Mr. Trump wrote that Mr. Dooley “seems like a nice person.” He then returned to his false claims that he carried Georgia in the 2020 election, writing disapprovingly that Mr. Dooley “said that I lost Georgia in 2020.”

“I have great respect for President Trump and look forward to working with him in the Senate,” Mr. Dooley posted on X on Sunday. He called himself a political outsider and reiterated his support from Mr. Kemp. “A vote for Mike Collins is a vote for Jon Ossoff,” he wrote, suggesting that he would be a stronger general election candidate than his opponent.

Some Republicans in Georgia have wondered if either candidate would be up to the task of taking on Mr. Ossoff in November. They have voiced concerns this year that their party is poorly positioned to challenge the Democrat, who is a strong fund-raiser and a popular incumbent.

Ellie Dougherty, a spokeswoman for Mr. Ossoff’s campaign, criticized the Republican candidates and expressed optimism about the general election. “After nearly a yearlong brutally messy audition to win over the White House, Trump puppets Mike Collins and Derek Dooley have made themselves both unelectable,” she said in a statement.

Joel McElhannon, a retired political strategist in Georgia, said that Mr. Trump’s endorsement accentuated what most Republican voters already saw as the race’s existing dynamics.

“He was kind of seen as a Trump-likely endorsed candidate before this,” Mr. McElhannon said of Mr. Collins. “I think the endorsement is kind of the cherry on top.”

Mr. Trump has had particular success in his endorsements in the South, backing Republican challengers who defeated Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky in primaries this spring.

But some Georgians have already cast ballots in the runoff during early voting last week. That could blunt the impact of Mr. Trump’s last-minute endorsement.

In Iowa, Mr. Trump made a late endorsement in a crowded Republican primary for governor, weighing in shortly before the June 2 primary. His preferred candidate, Representative Randy Feenstra, lost to Zach Lahn, a businessman and farmer.

Mr. Trump had earlier endorsed Burt Jones, Georgia’s lieutenant governor, in the Republican primary for governor against Rick Jackson, a wealthy health care executive. A win by Mr. Jackson in the runoff would be a major blow to Mr. Trump.

In Alabama, another race will test Mr. Trump’s support on Tuesday. His endorsed candidate in the Republican primary runoff for Senate, Representative Barry Moore, is facing off against Jared Hudson, a former Navy SEAL.