Poll Shows Far-Left Sen. Jon Ossoff Leading Rep. Mike Collins in Georgia Senate Race

August 18, 2026
10:54 pm

▶

Listen to Article

The latest polling from Georgia shows Sen. Jon Ossoff holding a lead over Rep. Mike Collins, but the numbers tell a more nuanced story than the headline suggests. Ossoff’s advantage is built on a coalition that includes suburban moderates who have historically supported Second Amendment rights, while Collins’s campaign is banking on rural turnout and a message that frames gun control as a direct threat to Georgia’s hunting culture and self-defense traditions. The race is less about Ossoff’s personal popularity and more about whether Collins can turn the Senate contest into a referendum on federal overreach—particularly the Biden-era ATF rules on pistol braces and the push for universal background checks that many Georgians view as a gateway to registration. For the 2A community, the stakes are straightforward: Ossoff has a 100% rating from gun-control groups and has backed every major restriction that has come before the Senate, from red-flag laws to magazine bans. Collins, by contrast, has a lifetime A rating from the NRA and has pledged to sponsor legislation rolling back the pistol-brace rule and protecting interstate handgun sales. If the race tightens, expect Collins to hammer the point that a Democratic Senate majority would likely confirm an anti-gun Supreme Court justice and codify the ATF’s expanded definition of “engaged in the business” of dealing firearms—changes that would hit FFL holders in Georgia’s growing rural counties hardest. The polling lead also masks a turnout problem for Ossoff: early surveys show enthusiasm among gun owners is running higher than among suburban moderates, and Collins’s team is already running ads linking Ossoff to California-style ammo restrictions that would raise the cost of range time for competitive shooters. In a state where the 2021 election was decided by fewer than 12,000 votes, even a modest shift among single-issue voters could flip the seat. The 2A community’s task is clear—frame the race as a choice between preserving Georgia’s gun culture and importing the coastal model of restriction, and make sure every eligible gun owner understands that the margin in November could be smaller than a single range day’s worth of ballots.

Best FFL Software Ranked and Compared!

For the 2A community, the stakes are straightforward: Ossoff has a 100% rating from gun-control groups and has backed every major restriction that has come before the Senate, from red-flag laws to magazine bans. Collins, by contrast, has a lifetime A rating from the NRA and has pledged to sponsor legislation rolling back the pistol-brace rule and protecting interstate handgun sales. If the race tightens, expect Collins to hammer the point that a Democratic Senate majority would likely confirm an anti-gun Supreme Court justice and codify the ATF’s expanded definition of “engaged in the business” of dealing firearms—changes that would hit FFL holders in Georgia’s growing rural counties hardest.

The polling lead also masks a turnout problem for Ossoff: early surveys show enthusiasm among gun owners is running higher than among suburban moderates, and Collins’s team is already running ads linking Ossoff to California-style ammo restrictions that would raise the cost of range time for competitive shooters. In a state where the 2021 election was decided by fewer than 12,000 votes, even a modest shift among single-issue voters could flip the seat. The 2A community’s task is clear—frame the race as a choice between preserving Georgia’s gun culture and importing the coastal model of restriction, and make sure every eligible gun owner understands that the margin in November could be smaller than a single range day’s worth of ballots.

Share this story