The 2026 Georgia Senate race welcomes a new contender in former football coach from the University of Tennessee, Derek Dooley. Dooley launched his campaign with a new campaign launch video and a promise to put Georgia first.
Dooley is the son of Vince Dooley, a legendary football coach for the University of Georgia who also coached in the National Football League.
Dooley declared in his launch video, “The only thing that matters to me is the people of Georgia are proud with who is representing them in Washington, D.C.”
What’s interesting about Dooley’s candidacy is that he has never run for public office. Despite this, he is expected to receive an endorsement from Governor Brian Kemp, according to Republican sources.
Dooley and Gov. Kemp are lifelong friends, but this relationship may complicate the race for Republicans.
In Kemp’s announcement that he would not run for Senate, he stated that he would work with President Donald Trump to prop up a candidate for the Senate race.
However, Kemp seems to have jumped the gun by backing Dooley so soon, especially since Trump has yet to comment on Dooley’s candidacy.
In fact, President Trump is likely to endorse Rep. Mike Collins instead. Rep. Collins is a longtime supporter of Trump and has appeared at many of his rallies in Georgia.
These competing endorsements could prove to be a detriment for the Republicans in this race. If they fail to unify, Senator Jon Ossoff (D) might keep his seat.
Dooley has made his support for President Trump clear, though, in a bid to win his endorsement. In his campaign launch video, he stated, “President Trump campaigned on things, and he’s turning them into results. I haven’t known a president in my lifetime who’s been able to achieve these kinds of results. That’s what the people want.”
In the launch video, Dooley also characterized himself as an outsider and a foil to Sen. Ossoff, stating, “Professional politicians like Jon Ossoff are the problem.”
The Republican side of this Senate race has proven to be more interesting and complicated than expected. Rep. Collins is most likely the frontrunner, but Dooley serves as quite a challenger to that expectation.
