Rep. Mike Collins, Trump-endorsed election denier, clinches Georgia Senate nomination

Rep. Mike Collins (R), a vehement election denier and defender of the Jan. 6 riot, won a key Senate primary runoff election in Georgia Tuesday evening. 

The victory means Collins will face off against incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) in November in a critical race that will help determine which party will control the U.S. Senate. 

The GOP currently holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate, but if Democrats can gain just four seats in November, they will win control of the chamber. Ossoff narrowly won his 2020 election, and Republicans are hoping to flip his seat to maintain — and possibly strengthen — their hold on the Senate. 

Collins, who received President Donald Trump’s endorsement days before the election, is a fervent believer in the Big Lie that the 2020 election was rigged, and that Joe Biden, the legitimate winner, cheated. 

His conspiracy-addled view on elections is probably best summed up by a 2022 social media video he posted while running for the U.S. House in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District. 

In the clip, Collins holds a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle as he runs down a laundry list of voter fraud myths about Georgia that have since been extensively investigated and debunked: illegal votes were cast, voting machines were hacked, and “ridiculous” drop boxes were planted that Democrats “stuffed” with ballots to steal the election.

“You see, Georgians are sick and tired of weak-kneed, spineless politicians who won’t fight for Trump, get to the bottom of 2020 and fix our elections,” Collins says as he lifts his rifle. “Well, if they won’t do it, Mike Collins will.” 

He then fires at what appears to be a ballot drop box, blowing it to pieces.

Collins’ social media history is littered with examples of how he’s campaigned heavily on these falsehoods, dating back to at least 2021, when he repeatedly demanded an audit of Georgia’s 2020 ballots.  

Collins has also spoken out in defense of Jan. 6 insurrectionists, referring to them as “political prisoners.”

During a “Justice for J6” rally in the District of Columbia in September 2021, Collins told a crowd: “I demand that the federal government begin trying those accused – the J6 political prisoners being detained — immediately, especially those being held for nonviolent crimes.”

Years later, on the four-year anniversary of the deadly insurrection, he paid a fond tribute to the rioters. 

“President Trump held a rally, where supporters walked to the Capitol to peacefully protest the certification of the 2020 election,” Collins wrote. “During this time, some individuals entered the Capitol, took photos, and explored the building before leaving. Since then, hundreds of peaceful protestors have been hunted down, arrested, held in solitary confinement, and treated unjustly. Countless hours and taxpayer dollars have been spent pursuing innocent grandmothers and raiding President Trump’s home, while terrorists and millions of illegal immigrants continue to cross our nation’s borders, causing havoc in our communities.”