Overview
- The May 19 primary left Rep. Mike Collins and Derek Dooley to a June 16 runoff, and reporting from late May found several county sheriffs, commissioners, and state lawmakers publicly denying or disputing listings on Collins’s campaign site and social posts.
- Officials including Grady County Sheriff Earl Prince and Wayne County Sheriff Chuck Moseley said they never consented or asked to be removed after their names appeared as Collins endorsers, while others were later shown supporting Dooley.
- Collins’s campaign accused Dooley’s team of convincing a few recruits to flip, and the campaign disputed some claims, but multiple independent outlets corroborated mismatches between Collins’s materials and officials’ statements.
- Collins has added several top Trump advisers as strategists and pollsters, a move outlets say signals possible Trump backing, while Dooley has continued statewide campaigning with public support from Gov. Brian Kemp.
- Local endorsements matter in Georgia runoffs because rural county votes can decide close contests, so the disputed listings could affect voter trust, turnout in small counties, and how national allies and donors allocate support in the weeks before June 16.