Jon Ossoff leads Mike Collins 56% to 43% among Georgia registered voters in a poll released Wednesday, an early read on the 2026 Georgia Senate race. Ossoff’s lead is 13 points, and the same poll gives him 55% support among the 82% of voters who say they are motivated to vote.
The poll also shows nearly 6 in 10 voters view Ossoff favorably. Collins, who won the Republican nomination after defeating Derek Dooley in the June GOP primary runoff, enters the general election with 89% of Republicans behind him, but a quarter of non-MAGA Republicans say they back Ossoff instead.
Jon Ossoff and the 2021 runoff
Ossoff’s position in the poll follows the narrow way he first won the seat. He defeated David Perdue in the January 2021 runoff by just over a percentage point, and the new numbers show him far ahead of Collins among Black voters, voters under age 30, independents, moderates, and women under 45.
Collins has a different coalition. His strongest groups in the poll are White evangelical Christians, White men without a college degree, and rural voters. That split leaves the race with a clear partisan shape: nearly all Democrats back Ossoff, while Collins keeps nearly all Republicans.
Mike Collins and GOP support
Mike Collins received a last-minute endorsement from Donald Trump in the June GOP primary runoff, and the poll suggests that endorsement still tracks with his strongest base. Among MAGA supporters, just 4% say they will back Ossoff, while the broader Republican coalition gives Collins 89% support.
Collins also criticized Ossoff as an “out of touch, far-left liberal.” The poll does not erase that contrast, but it does show Ossoff starting the general election with a larger cushion than Collins has among Republicans who are not fully aligned with MAGA.
Georgia voters and inflation
Inflation is the top issue for voters in the Senate race, ahead of healthcare, which ranks second. Political divisions, immigration, and jobs and unemployment are tied among the next concerns, putting the race on the issues voters already rank highest rather than on a single local question.
For Collins, the practical task is not simply turning out Republicans. He has to narrow a 13-point gap while holding his base and reaching the voters now leaning Ossoff, especially independents and moderates. Can Mike Collins close that gap before the 2026 Georgia Senate race is decided?
