Ossoff vs. Collins in Georgia US Senate debate: Key moments and polls

Democrats are fighting to defend U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff's Georgia seat as Republican challenger Mike Collins faces a difficult path, trailing amid unfavorable polling and a Democratic fundraising advantage.

The two faced off in a debate Thursday evening, clashing over tariffs, taxes, immigration and more.

Ossoff narrowly won his election in 2020, as the race went to a runoff versus David Perdue. Ossoff won by less than 55,000 votes in a spread of 50.61 percent to Perdue's 49.39 percent. President Donald Trump flipped the swing state during the 2024 presidential election versus then-Vice President Kamala Harris. He has also thrown his support behind Collins in the U.S. Senate race.

In the latest survey by Wedgewood Polls, Ossoff leads Collins by 10 percent as prediction markets also show him as the clear favorite. The Cook Political Report rates the races as Likely Democrat.

Newsweek reached out to both Ossoff and Collins' campaigns following the debate for comment Thursday night.

Key Moments from US Senate Debate In Thursday night's debate, the two clashed over key policy platforms like trade, immigration, Trump and more. Below are highlights of the candidates' wrangling for the U.S. Senate seat:

Collins was asked about his plan to help make life more affordable for Georgians, saying he wants to continue to be energy independent and export goods out of the port in Savannah.

Ossoff said he'd like to repeal tariffs put in place under the Trump administration, while also bashing the rising cost of diesel and ground beef, saying they are crushing Georgia families. Ossoff also pointed to the ongoing war in Iran that is contributing to the soaring price of gasoline.

Collins beat him up pretty good, though this write up doesn't reflect it. It was combative on a personal level, CFP links to full debate, well worth watching at 2x for content, but you have to see Ossoff at 1x to see how much Republicans might hope for him to carry "the new JFK" label into the general in 2028. He looks like Mr. Lincoln on stage at Disneyland ( the 70's version, they may have improved in meantime). ossoff opened by sayingCollins is on trial for being a bigot, talking about white supremacist posts by Collins' son in law. At one point , O said Collins "employed half the third reich in his office," which would have been grounds for declaring him the loser not too many years ago, before Dems started getting away with it as part of their daily discourse. Collins hit back very hard, citing Hasan Piker's endorsement of O a number of times, quoting Piker's "America deserved 9/11." Blistered him as recipient of Reid Hoffmans' money , brought up Epstein in that regard at least twice. O talked about ICE abuses he's investigated, Collins effectively came back that O and Dems had shut down government to defund ICE for 48 days last year when Georgia farmers needed emergency funding authorization for hurricane relief. O tagged him as supporter of Trump's Iran war, I can't understand why the Republicans don't turn around and call them "Iran Firsters," "Trust Iran first. "

Yeah, Collins was SO EFFECTIVE last night that Fox News in Atlanta had his employment of neo-nazis and KKK supporters in his office as the lead story today. SMH.

https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/report-collins-campaign-leaders-tied-group-founded-former-kkk-leader

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