Venturing into the backyard of one of his Republican rivals, Mike Collins showed Monday why he is a serious threat to win the Republican nomination to run against U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in next year’s marquee election race in Georgia.
Speaking at a luncheon at a St. Simons restaurant sponsored by the Golden Isles Republican Women, the one-term congressman from Jackson in rural Butts County panned Ossoff as a “trust fund kid” who “never had a real job in his life.”
“This guy is bought and paid for by the California crazies and these New York nut jobs,” he added for good measure.
Collins’ knack for the caustic putdown delighted many in his audience of 90 people, who see him as a more charismatic alternative to 1st District U.S. Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter of St. Simons — another self-described “MAGA warrior” — and Gov. Brian Kemp’s handpicked, more middle-of-the-road candidate, Derek Dooley.
Rep. Buddy Carter speaks to supporters of former president Donald J. Trump during a town hall meeting at the Trustees Garden in Savannah, GA on September 14, 2024. The event was hosted by Gov. Kristi Noem, Rep. Buddy Carter, and Rep. Mike Collins. Credit: Justin Taylor/The Current
Carter’s wife, Amy, was one of the 90 people in attendance who sat through Collin’s appeal in her husband’s constituency.
Indeed, setting delicacy and diplomacy aside, the 58-year-old truck company owner and son of former U.S. representative Mac Collins, said Georgia Republicans need to coalesce around one candidate sooner, not later, in order to defeat Ossoff. That candidate? Mike Collins.
“If you’re looking for someone that can fight, that will fight, somebody that can turn out to vote, somebody that fights for your beliefs and what I believe in, then I need your help.”
Why Collins?
In his remarks, Collins made a simple pitch, highlighting his track record of passing legislation with bipartisan support and his ability to find common ground between hardline MAGA supporters and moderate Republican and independent Atlanta suburbanites.
He cited the passage of the Laken Riley Act as proof. The legislation, named after the nurse who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant in Athens in 2024, was criticized by some for erosion of due process. It requires detention without bail of certain noncitizens arrested for crimes, such as burglary, theft, or shoplifting. The measure garnered the votes of 46 Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives.
“The Atlanta suburban people also know that I didn’t give up the fight, and I got bipartisan legislation passed, and that’s what we did with Laken Riley, and they saw that. I never gave up on that,” Collins said. “You gotta realize I got it passed out of the House in the 118th [Congress]. Jon Ossoff didn’t lift a finger to help us with that bill.”
A ‘hard-working’ Georgian
Collins said this is the best time in history to serve in Washington because the stakes are high. Ossoff, he said, is actively harming Georgians because he does not represent Georgia’s “values” and supports the current government shutdown.
“Now he’s voted to shut the government down. And why over what? So that illegal immigrants can have health care paid for by the hard-working Georgians in this state,” he said.
Undocumented immigrants are ineligible for federal healthcare programs like Medicaid and Medicare and cannot access most federal healthcare benefits, except for emergency services.
In his remarks, Collins presented himself as a successful small business owner — the epitome of a “hard-working” Georgian, in contrast to Ossoff’s silver-spoon upbringing.
“People ask me, ‘What’s the sauce? Tell us the secret sauce.’ It’s just called being a workhorse, going up there and working and not being a show horse.
“I tell folks, ‘The good Lord put me on this earth to work.’”
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Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
