Georgia Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Mike Collins sparred on the floor during a heated Atlanta Press Club debate on Oct. 13, closing out the packed Loudermilk-Young debate series with a bang.
The pair hurled accusations and biting soundbites across an hour, poking at hot-button topics: abortion, white nationalism, Epstein and neo-Nazi ties, the war in Iran and Georgia’s affordability crisis.
It marked the second debate between the Republican and Democratic candidates in a few weeks. But did the hourlong program reveal anything new to Georgia voters?
One vital piece cut through the arguments: Jon Ossoff will not run for president in 2028. The sitting Senator is seeking a second six-year term in office, but some critics worried he would leave the seat to run for higher office.
“I have zero interest in running for president,” Ossoff said. “I’m not running for President. I’m running for reelection to the Senate.”
Collins had few new reveals, but the Georgia Representative seemingly confirmed one longstanding issue – his ongoing belief that the 2020 United States Presidential election results were fraudulent, and “rigged” for Joe Biden.
In 2022, Collins ran on a platform that echoed Trump’s election claims. At the 2026 debate, he would only admit “Joe Biden went into office” when asked directly about his beliefs.
“Everybody’s seen my views on that,” he said. “They know my views on that. Yes, Joe Biden was the president, and we saw the results of the Biden presidency.”
But most of the debate retreaded ongoing arguments between the pair. On the heels of the XXXX debate last week, Ossoff ran back accusations of “bigotry” towards Collins. He even asked the Republican candidate if he was a “white nationalist.”
Collins denied the claim. “No, I condemn any sort of hate speech, antisemitism, hate of any kind,” he responded.
In turn, Collins accused Ossoff of ties to the Democratic Socialists of America and campaign supporter Reid Hoffman, a major donor who held meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. Ossoff argued Collins voted to cover the “Epstein files” in 2025.
Despite repeated asks from Collins, Ossoff did not condemn Hoffman, instead pivoting to Collins’ vote to cover up the files.
It was part of the debate’s running theme — each candidate would fling accusations, then say the other “didn’t answer the question.” The pair would then swap rebuttals until debate organizers cut their mics for time.
Collins accused Ossoff of planning a presidential run with the Democratic Socialists of America, supporting abortion “up to and past birth” and being a “man who doesn’t care about Georgia.”
Ossoff accused Collins of supporting tariffs, supporting the war in Iran and spreading neo-Nazi propaganda.
Both candidates seemingly settled on one issue, though — Georgia’s affordability crisis. According to data from the Georgia Municipal Association, about 44 percent of the state’s households did not earn enough to cover basic costs in 2024.
Collins and Ossoff both painted the picture of financial hardship in Georgia. Rising food costs, gas costs at an all-time high, pricey electric bills and tariffs all took center stage. But the pair had wildly different causes for the crisis.
“Let’s continue down the list about how you’ve made our life more expensive,” Collins said to Ossoff. “I think the people of the state of Georgia need to know that because all you do is deflect. Let’s talk about high taxes, – you voted for the largest tax increase in U.S. history, you voted for Bidenomics, that Green New Deal.”
Collins said the sitting Senator voted against small businesses and farmers, too. The Republican candidate has expressed support for reducing small business regulations and cutting taxes across the state.
At the debate, he said he would lead Georgia down the road of “energy independence” through local oil refineries and get back “patient control” over healthcare.
Meanwhile, Ossoff pointed to the war in Iran, tariffs, and health care cuts. Previously, the Democratic candidate said he would work to repeal tariffs that drive up grocery costs.
“We’re going to repeal the tariffs that have driven grocery prices to their record high,” Ossoff said. “We’re going to end the disastrous war (Mike) Collins supported that has triggered a global energy crisis and driven diesel to its all-time high, and we’re going to repeal the Medicaid cuts and the cuts that allowed health insurance premiums to double for more than a million Georgians.”
The fiery debate closed out with few revelations. But one piece of information broke through — a record-breaking 188,600 voters took to the polls on the first day of early voting on Oct. 13.
Early voting will run through Friday, Oct. 30, with election day on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The full Atlanta Press Club debates for Senate and other races are available online.
