ATLANTA — The Associated Press called Georgia’s U.S. Senate race for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff on Tuesday night, defeating Republican Rep. Mike Collins in one of the most closely watched Senate contests in the country.
The AP made the call at 7:55 p.m. ET, less than an hour after polls closed in Georgia. At the time of the call, Ossoff led with about 63 percent of the vote to about 37 percent for Collins, in figures from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office reported with the call. Reuters also reported Ossoff’s win on Tuesday evening.
A Must-Win Seat for Democrats
Ossoff, 39, was the only Democratic senator seeking re-election this year in a state President Donald Trump carried in 2024. That made Georgia one of Republicans’ top targets, and a seat Democrats could not afford to lose.
Ossoff first won the seat in a January 2021 runoff. In the Senate he has become one of Trump’s most vocal critics. He heavily outraised and outspent Collins in this race, according to campaign finance reports.
Collins, a congressman whose district runs east of Atlanta, had Trump’s backing. As of late Tuesday evening, he had not conceded and his campaign had not issued a public statement about the result.
What It Means for the Senate
The result is a hold, not a flip: the seat stays in Democratic hands. Going into Tuesday, Republicans held the Senate 53 to 47. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win the majority, and they still must flip Republican-held seats to get there. Control of the Senate had not been called late Tuesday, with several competitive races still undecided.
Ossoff’s share of the vote is also well above the 50 percent that Georgia law requires a candidate to clear to avoid a runoff, so the race will not go to a second round.
An AP call is a projection, based on the votes counted and the ballots still left to count. It is not an official result. Georgia will certify its results in the coming weeks.
Follow every called race on the Zark News Election Results 2026 page, which is updated through the night.
