By Jill Nolin | Editor
It will be Congressman Mike Collins v. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s nationally watched Senate race, and healthcare executive Rick Jackson — who dropped more than $100 million just on the GOP primary — will face former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the fall.
That also means that both of outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp’s favored candidates at the top of the ballot — former college football coach Derek Dooley and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones — were defeated Tuesday.
But as we close the book on primary election season after Tuesday’s runoffs, we’re swiftly moving on to Georgia’s special legislative session that starts this afternoon. The governor called the session to resolve the ballot QR code removal deadline that the state isn’t going to meet and to redraw the state’s political maps after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act. We’re expecting the first day to be greeted with demonstrations, even as questions swirl over the GOP’s redistricting plans.
Congressman Mike Collins celebrates making the runoff in the election for U.S. Senate. Collins advanced to the November general election Tuesday. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
2026 PRIMARY
By Ross Williams
Georgia Republicans have chosen Congressman Mike Collins to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Collins led with about 56% of the vote as of about 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Speaking to a supportive crowd at a historic home in his native Jackson, Georgia, Collins said he had just gotten off the phone with his opponent, former University of Tennessee football coach and attorney Derek Dooley.
Wealthy businessman Rick Jackson, a candidate for governor seeking the Republican nomination, waves to a crowd of supporters at a rally where he was joined by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in Alpharetta on June 15, 2026. Alander Rocha/Georgia Recorder
2026 PRIMARY
By Alander Rocha
An expensive slugfest between two Republican candidates for governor fighting for the party’s nomination came to an end Tuesday night.
The Associated Press called the race for wealthy businessman Rick Jackson at around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday. As of late Tuesday night, Jackson had about 53% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Jackson defeated Trump-endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to advance to November’s general election, when he will face former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won the Democratic nomination in May with over 50% of the vote.
An election worker in Gwinnett County demonstrates how to insert a voter card into ballot-marking devices used by voters across Georgia. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder
VOTING
By Maya Homan
Georgia’s special legislative session starts Wednesday, and while partisan fights about redistricting are likely to dominate and attract daily protests, there is one issue that legislators must come to an agreement on: What to do about Georgia’s election system.
The state’s current election equipment uses QR codes to count ballots, but has faced criticism from cybersecurity experts and proponents of hand-marked paper ballots, who say that ballots should be counted based on text that can be deciphered by humans.
Lawmakers will return Wednesday to the Georgia Capitol for a special legislative session to make big decisions about the state's election system and political maps. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
REDISTRICTING
By Maggie Lee, The Current
Georgia is among the Republican-led states moving to redraw its congressional and state legislative districts this year. This follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision this year that struck down Louisiana’s majority Black congressional districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
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