AJC: “U.S. Rep. Mike Collins had just won the GOP nomination. But Ossoff had been preparing for this fight long before the votes were counted. […] The Democrat and his team spent nearly two years methodically preparing for this race, rebuilding the party, amassing resources and shaping the opposition.”

Atlanta, Ga. — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is out with new reporting this morning on Sen. Jon Ossoff’s “landslide victory” and the “calculated moves that helped transform his fight for political survival into a commanding victory.” 

According to the AJC, Sen. Ossoff’s “transformation from the nation’s most vulnerable Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent to runaway victor was anything but inevitable.” The reporting details how the Senator “helped engineer an overhaul of the state Democratic Party, built a formidable campaign account and invested millions in a statewide political operation.” He also “embraced an alliance” with Governor-Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms, and unleashed a “relentless barrage” against Mike Collins, who “was constantly forced to the defensive.”

The AJC also details how Ossoff’s “ties to GOP officials and reputation for constituent service gave him crossover appeal. Several Republican mayors and local leaders endorsed his reelection, complicating Collins’ efforts to paint him as a ‘radical Democrat’” and that “at the same time, Ossoff worked to energize progressives and Black voters, the backbone of his coalition. He was a mainstay at Black churches. And at a May rally in Atlanta, Pastor Jamal Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church offered an extraordinary tribute, comparing Ossoff to his late mentor.”

Recently, the AJC highlighted high youth turnout during the Early Vote period in Georgia, with Black and young voters “heading to the polls at a significantly faster clip than during the last midterm election” — contributing to last night’s historic and decisive victories for Democrats up and down the ballot in the state. 

AJC: How Jon Ossoff turned the tables on Georgia Republicans
By Greg Bluestein | November 4, 2026

KEY EXCERPTS

• The Republican runoff for U.S. Senate had hardly ended when Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff gave his senior campaign staff a two-word directive.

• “Bury him.”

• U.S. Rep. Mike Collins had just won the GOP nomination. But Ossoff had been preparing for this fight long before the votes were counted.

• Within minutes, the Democrat branded Collins a “notorious bigot, antisemite, and extremist,” previewing an assault that would dominate the rest of the campaign.

• It was the opening salvo in a campaign that ended Tuesday with Ossoff’s landslide victory, a reelection battle that cemented his national standing and added fueled to talk of a 2028 presidential run.

• But his transformation from the nation’s most vulnerable Democratic U.S. Senate incumbent to runaway victor was anything but inevitable.

• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke to to four people with direct involvement in the campaign’s discussions to piece together a behind the scenes account of how Ossoff and his team spent nearly two years making a series of calculated moves to shape the political battlefield. Some spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the campaign.

• After Donald Trump won Georgia in 2024, Ossoff helped engineer an overhaul of the state Democratic Party, built a formidable campaign account and invested millions in a statewide political operation. […]

• Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Democratic nominee for governor, quickly decided to embrace each other rather than keep their distance, as leading Democrats had done in 2022. It was a gutsy call at a time when the race for governor was a tossup. 

• And when Collins emerged from the GOP runoff, Ossoff immediately unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks to brand him as unfit for office. […]

• His ties to GOP officials and reputation for constituent service gave him crossover appeal. Several Republican mayors and local leaders endorsed his reelection, complicating Collins’ efforts to paint him as a “radical Democrat.”

• At the same time, Ossoff worked to energize progressives and Black voters, the backbone of his coalition. He was a mainstay at Black churches. […]

• […] Ossoff and Bottoms embraced an alliance that only deepened as the campaign unfolded.

• Ossoff steered $3.6 million into the state party’s coordinated campaign, talked her up at his events and cut TV ads for her. Bottoms dubbed their rallies across Georgia “whole ballot energy.” And Democrats relished their contrast with divided Republicans.

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