JACKSON — The results of the U.S. Senate Republican primary offer a glimpse into the direction Georgia GOP voters want their party to go.
Polling throughout the race has positioned U.S. Rep. Mike Collins at the top of the pack of five primary candidates, but what many Georgians in Republican circles were watching is who would get that number-two spot.
Collins and Dooley will face off again June 16 to determine who will take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
The runoff result will not just determine who faces Ossoff this fall, it will show which version of the Georgia Republican Party has the most power right now.
Dooley winning a spot in the runoff is “huge” because just a few weeks ago the former football coach appeared to be “flailing in third place,” said Kerwin Swint, political scientist at Kennesaw State University.
Though the result may reflect U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter’s lack of statewide appeal as much as the strength of Gov. Brian Kemp, Swint said.
At one point, Republican insiders floated the idea finding one candidate the party’s primary voters could get behind, a strategy once floated as a way to avoid a costly and divisive primary.
Kemp, who is a “lame duck” in the last year of his second term as governor, recruited Dooley to run for the office and has been a strong surrogate for Dooley throughout his campaign.
Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, said while Dooley’s name has recognition — his father was a longtime Bulldogs football coach, making a runoff shows Kemp still has influence over Republican voters.
Dooley has name recognition, but not political recognition, so a runoff berth shows Kemp’s influence, Bullock said.
“If he makes it, then yeah, Dooley’s stock goes up — Kemp’s stock goes up,” Bullock told PeachPol in an interview last week.
The idea of a consensus candidate between Kemp and Trump ultimately fell apart because there was no agreement on who that candidate should be. Kemp selected Dooley and Trump has stayed out of the Georgia race so far.
Devon Cruz, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia, said he anticipates an even “more chaotic runoff election that will leave the eventual nominee terminally inseparable from the increasingly unpopular president heading into the General Election.”
“Between now and June 16th, both candidates are going to continue to try their hardest to prove who will be the more obedient, loyal puppet for Donald Trump,” Cruz said in a statement. “Georgians deserve better than that and we’ll make sure to continue working towards resoundingly reelecting Senator Ossoff in November.”
Collins sailed into the runoff, receiving the lion’s share of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Georgia secretary of state’s office. Dooley edged out U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter for his spot in the runoff.
Swint said Dooley could disrupt Collins’ path to November if enough Republicans decide Collins may be too vulnerable against Ossoff and that Dooley, without a political record, could be a safer general election bet.
Collins is facing unresolved ethics questions after a congressional watchdog alleged his office improperly paid an intern who performed little or no work. Collins has denied wrongdoing.
Regardless of who wins next month’s runoff, GOP strategist Stephen Lawson said Kemp will be an important part of the November election.
“Not just for (the Senate) race, but the governor’s race and up and down the ballot.” Lawson said. “As a Republican, I hope for our sake he’s engaged and out there as much as possible, becuase he’s the most popular Republican in the state.”
