Democrat Jon Ossoff is projected to have defeated Republican Mike Collins in Georgia’s Senate race on Tuesday, November 3, keeping the seat he has held since 2021 in Democratic hands. The result preserves a key seat in the fight for Senate control, but does not settle which party will control Congress.

Why Georgia’s seat matters

BBC News projected Ossoff’s victory; no final vote total or certification status was given. Ossoff, 39, has served as Georgia’s senator since 2021. Collins, the Republican challenger, serves in the US House of Representatives.

Georgia’s recent presidential results underline the importance of the contest. Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020, while Donald Trump carried it in 2024. Ossoff’s projected re-election means the Democrats held a Senate seat in a state that had backed Trump in the latest presidential race.

The Georgia contest was one of the first Senate races projected in the midterms. But the result alone cannot establish the balance of power in Washington: control of Congress also depends on other Senate races and the contests for the House of Representatives.

Cost of living set the terms

Ossoff made affordability and the rising cost of living central to his campaign. He criticised Collins for supporting Trump’s tariffs, which BBC News said had been linked to rising inflation. Collins blamed rising costs on former president Joe Biden and defended his support for Trump’s war in Iran.

Trump endorsed Collins, who also attacked Ossoff as too liberal for Georgia. Collins accused the senator of supporting open borders, allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports and voting consistently with Bernie Sanders, a Democratic senator from Vermont.

The campaign’s dynamics shifted as election day approached. BBC News reported that polls showed Ossoff with a solid lead and that Republicans moved resources from Georgia to other contests. The race had begun as a major Republican target, but the projected result keeps the seat with the Democrats.

For Democrats, the win preserves a seat in a closely contested state; for Republicans, it is a setback in their effort to take it. Whether that changes control of Congress will depend on the results of the remaining Senate and House races.