Derek Dooley, a former college football coach, has announced that he is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia as a Republican. His goal is to defeat current Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in the 2026 election.
Dooley, 57, once coached football at the University of Tennessee and Louisiana Tech and is the son of well-known University of Georgia coach Vince Dooley. He has never held political office before. In a video message, he said he supports President Donald Trump and wants to lower taxes, reduce government size, support conservative values, and focus on helping Georgia.
“I’m going to work with President Trump, fight for you, and always put Georgia first,” Dooley said.
He has the support of Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp. However, Kemp has chosen not to run for the Senate seat himself, even though many Republicans hoped he would.
Dooley is joining a crowded Republican primary field, which already includes current U.S. House Representatives Buddy Carter and Mike Collins. The winner of the Republican primary will face Senator Ossoff in the general election.
Republicans hope to win back Ossoff’s seat to strengthen their current 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate. Georgia has become a key state in national politics, and the Senate race there is expected to be very competitive.
Other Senate races considered close in 2026 will happen in Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and North Carolina.
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Democrats have a tough road ahead if they want to take back control of the Senate. They need to protect seats in states where their current senators are retiring and also win several Republican-held seats.
Democrats criticized Dooley’s entry into the race. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called him a “failed football coach” who supported cutting Medicaid, which they say would hurt people in Georgia.
Senator Jon Ossoff won his seat in 2021, defeating former Republican Senator David Perdue. Georgia’s other senator, Democrat Raphael Warnock, won in 2022 after beating Republican Herschel Walker.
Dooley has also worked as a coach in the National Football League (NFL).
