Rep. Mike Collins advances to Republican runoff for US Senate in Georgia primary

ATLANTA (AP) — Two-term U.S. Rep. Mike Collins advanced to the Republican runoff for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

The owner of a family trucking business, Collins, 58, represents a district east of Atlanta. He has made immigration enforcement a focus of his candidacy.

Georgia Republicans are looking for a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Collins and Buddy Carter are playing up their conservative records on Capitol Hill, while former college football coach Derek Dooley pitches himself as a political outsider.

In the governor primary, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson have advanced to the June 16 Republican runoff, extending a bruising campaign battle.

Trump endorsed Jones last year and got a thank you from the candidate Tuesday night. A Jones win would boost Trump’s influence in a critical battleground state. The president’s kingmaker record in Georgia had been shaky, failing to dislodge Gov. Brian Kemp and others in 2022 and backing Herschel Walker in a Senate loss that year.

The Republican nominee will try to hold onto the governor’s office for the party, which has won every election to the post since 2002.

Democratic voters are also considering who should lead the party’s effort to win the governor’s office. The candidates include Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor; G...