Sen. Jon Ossoff came home to Atlanta Saturday to rally core Democrats desperate for effective action now against President Trump's administration, per the AP. "Georgia will bow to no king!" Ossoff proclaimed at the end of a 20-minute speech that labeled Trump as corrupt, out of touch with the problems of regular people, and "trying to poison our democracy with fear and intimidation." Atlanta, "this is not a drill," said Ossoff, who could be the Republicans' No. 1 Democratic target in the 2026 elections. "As citizens, this is the test of our lifetime. So tell me, Atlanta, are you ready to fight?"
Ossoff's campaign tried to play down the idea that Saturday's event was the launch of his 2026 reelection campaign, and he never specifically asked the 2,000 Democrats gathered in a music hall on Atlanta's gentrified east side for their votes. But others, including fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, made that explicit, and Ossoff's campaign handed out yard signs to people as they left. Many Republicans would like to see Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp enter the race. But the second-term governor has been holding back a decision and could opt instead to run for president in 2028 or to retire from politics.
If Kemp declines to run, Republicans including US Reps. Buddy Carter, Rich McCormick, and Mike Collins could seek the nomination, as well as state Insurance Commissioner John King. US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has also mused about a possible run for Georgia governor or Senate in 2026. Any race in Georgia is likely to be closely contested and fantastically expensive. The twin Senate races in 2020, when Ossoff and Warnock narrowly won and flipped control of the Senate to Democrats, cost more than $900 million combined. Warnock's 2022 reelection over Republican Herschel Walker cost more than $470 million.
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Ossoff, keeping his focus off 2026, tried to speak to the alarm that Democratic voters say they are feeling, and promising he was doing everything he could to fight back. "Maybe right now you feel surrounded by darkness. You might be a little numb. You might be wondering if there's a way out," Ossoff said. "But Atlanta, we don't have the luxury of despair." Ossoff tried to carve out a lane as a traditional senator who could do bipartisan work in his first four years. With Democrats restive and in the minority, he may be looking to shift his tone to something more antagonistic towards Trump.
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