GOP U.S. Senate Candidate Mike Collins stopped by Decoy on the Downtown Gainesville Square to make his case to potential runoff voters.
Collins touted his own resumé as Georgia’s 10th Congressional District Representative since 2022.
He also took the opportunity to rail against Incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff (D), deciding not to speak about his runoff opponent Derek Dooley.
“The problem is we’ve got Jon Ossoff sitting there,” Collins told the crowd. “The guy doesn’t represent our state, he doesn’t represent our factories, doesn’t represent people.”
In an interview with Collins afterwards, he was asked is he believes Dooley is the more moderate choice in the primary.
“I don’t know how he’s going to differentiate himself between him and Ossoff. They’re basically the same,” Collins said. “[Dooley] didn’t vote for 20 years, so he didn’t support President Trump in 2016 or 2020 when he needed him.”
Collins touted his role in the passage of the Laken Riley Act in the wake of Riley’s 2024 murder at the hands of an undocumented immigrant in his district.
“Ossoff never lifted a finger,” Collins told the crowd.
He also made note of legislation passing the House of Representatives but getting tied up in the Senate.
AccessWDUN asked Collins about his support of ending the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote majority to overcome if the minority party wants to tie up legislation.
“I have no problem ending it to pass the SAVE America Act,” Collins said. “We need to get that piece of legislation to make sure that we have the most secure elections for the best country in the world, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t have the most secure elections out there.”
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship to vote in elections, an upgrade from most states’ current requirement to show an identification card.
A new “REAL ID” would only be acceptable if the document indicates the applicant is a citizen. Only five states — Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington — offer REAL IDs that explicitly denote citizenship.
Collins also spoke about a recent controversy involving his former Chief of Staff Brandon Phillips.
Phillips, who was at the center of a House ethics complaint for misusing office funds and recently posted a vulgar reply on X, has been fired.
“We had a problem within our organization. I saw the problem, I do not agree with that in any way or condone it, and we fixed the problem. It’s a business,” Collins told AccessWDUN.
Early voting in the runoff begins June 8, and election day is June 16.
Collins edged out Dooley in Hall County on May 19 37.4% to 35.6%. The winner of the runoff will face Ossoff in the Nov. 8 general election.
The post Collins makes his case at Decoy in Gainesville prior to runoff appeared first on AccessNorthGA.
