Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Republican Rep. Mike Collins met for the first of two planned debates on Thursday, a heated hourlong affair that focused on the economy, healthcare costs, tariffs and the war in Iran.
The two also traded personal attacks, including on their voting records within their respective parties. Ossoff said in his opening remarks that Collins had “brought dishonor to our state,” and challenged Collins to defend his support for Trump’s policies that had hurt Georgians, including “voting for the tariffs that have sent groceries soaring, voting for the health care cuts that have doubled your insurance premiums, and voting for the war that sent diesel to its record high.”
Collins sought to portray Ossoff as someone who “never had a job in his life,” pointing to Ossoff’s support for former President Biden’s economic policies and his positions on immigration, and suggested “Bidennomics and that Green New Deal my opponent voted for,” were responsible for the country’s inflation.
On the war in Iran, Collins said the president “had every right to go in there and make sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon,” a talking point often raised by the Trump administration to justify the war, now in its eighth month. Ossoff called the war a “disaster.”
Ossoff also asked Collins to explain his support for Trump’s tariffs, which have been widely unpopular and contributed to higher prices for U.S. consumers.
Collins did not directly reply to Ossoff’s repeated jabs about tariffs, but in response to a question from the panel of journalists, suggested the levies would lead to “an economic boom” for Georgia. “Not only just bringing goods in, but being able to ship goods out because the tariffs now are making it fair,” Collins said.
“You just heard Mike Collins say the tariffs are working,” Ossoff said in response. “Go buy groceries. No one in this state seriously believes these tariffs are working.”
Ossoff also pointed to the federal investigation into Collins for alleged misuse of tax dollars to pay a former staffer’s girlfriend who did not work for his office. Collins said the investigation amounted to a “nothingburger” that Democrats were using to hurt him in the election. “The ethics committee needs to release the information and clear my name now,” he said.
Debate moderator Rick Folbaum pointed out that Ossoff frequently calls Collins a bigot, and referred to reports that Collins’ son-in-law had a history of amplifying white supremacist social media accounts. Folbaum asked Collins if he would denounce white supremacy.
Collins did not directly answer the question, instead noting that a New York man had recently been arrested for threatening to kill Collins and his son-in-law.
On the issue of healthcare, Ossoff said Collins and the president “passed the biggest Medicaid cuts in history,” noting that a hospital in Collins’ district shut down its labor and delivery unit because of the cuts. Collins argued the president’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill had allocated funds for rural hospitals. Collins voted for the bill, Ossoff voted against it. Despite the evidence that the bill increased the federal deficit and has benefited wealthy Americans the most, Collins defended his vote in favor. “I believe in keeping more money in the private sector, in people's pockets,” he said.
Ossoff also charged Collins with being “obsessed with” the 2020 election: “Mike Collins still believes the 2020 election was stolen,” he said. Georgia was in the spotlight after the 2020 election, with Trump calling the then-secretary of state to “find” the right number of votes to overturn the outcome.
Collins didn’t directly address Ossoff’s accusation, but said a national voter ID law was needed “People will go vote when they have confidence in our elections,” he said. “Until then, it is hard, and they just want to make sure that it is a fair, equitable election out there.”
Ossoff maintains a comfortable lead over Collins in most polls, with the race ranked “Expected Democrat” by The Caucus. The candidates will meet for a second debate on Oct. 13.