Reps. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Mike Collins (R-Ga.) traded barbs while former college football coach Derek Dooley largely stayed above the fray during Sunday\u2019s Georgia Senate GOP primary debate \u2014 one day before early voting begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter, Collins and Dooley alongside former Senate candidate John Coyne and retired Brig. Gen. Jonathan McColumn are vying for the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) in Georgia\u2019s Senate primary next month. All five Republican candidates participated in Sunday\u2019s forum as a part of the Atlanta Press Club\u2019s Loudermilk-Young debate series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Georgia Senate race, despite its Democratic lean, is largely seen as one of the best pick-up opportunities for Republicans, and President Trump\u2019s possible endorsement looms large ahead of the crowded May 19 GOP primary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the debate was mostly cordial, Carter took several swipes at Collins, particularly over a House Ethics Committee probe into allegations that his congressional office hired an intern who had a relationship with Collins\u2019 then-chief of staff and purportedly did not do any work for the House Republican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMike, we all know, as has been stated, that you\u2019re under federal investigation by your own Republican colleagues for misuse of taxpayer funds \u2026 and with your aide,\u201d Carter told Collins during the debate. \u201cIf taxpayers can\u2019t trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
January reports from the Office of Congressional Conduct (OCC) alleged that Collins and Brandon Phillips \u2014 now a top aide for Collins\u2019 campaign \u2014 \u201cmay have used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes.\u201d The OCC also claimed the congressman \u201cmay have retained an employee who did not perform duties commensurate with the compensation the employee received.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The OCC said that a woman, who had a relationship with Phillips, was paid several times as an \u201cDistrict Office Paid Intern,\u201d but past and current Collins aides said she did not do any work. The report also suggests that the woman was being paid for her role in the congressman\u2019s office while also working at Cox Communications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins\u2019 office responded to the \u201cmeritless\u201d allegations at the time, calling the report a \u201cbogus complaint\u201d and \u201ca sad attempt to derail one of Georgia\u2019s most effective conservative legislators in Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An attorney for Collins and Phillips urged the office to drop the probe, saying referrals stemmed from \u201ctwo disgruntled, former members of Congressman Collins staff.\u201d They defended Phillips\u2019 decision to hire the woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know, Buddy, I can tell through the voice that you know how the polling is going out there,\u201d Collins shot back during the debate, calling the issue a \u201ctotal nothing burger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins suggested Carter was a hypocrite and \u201ccareer politician,\u201d noting the Savannah Republican has his own ethics issues. He went on to claim that Carter\u2019s career has \u201cbeen littered with complaints, crooked land deals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve even tripled your net worth, and all you got to do is go Google, \u2018Buddy Carter Ethics FBI,\u201d and you\u2019ll see that,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter has been hit with two Federal Elections Commission (FEC) ethics complaints over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2017, a probe was opened into whether Carter illegally transferred money from his state account to other conduits, who later transferred the funds to his congressional campaign account. Another complaint, filed in 2021, accused the Georgia Republican of violating federal campaign regulations after airing a statewide TV and assembling a campaign team seemingly positioning himself as a Senate candidate. Both of these cases were later dismissed by the FEC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Carter, who has several pharmaceutical businesses, has faced scrutiny for supporting bills that some observers suggest could have helped the congressman\u2019s own business interests. The House Republican has argued there have been no conflicts of interest, noting his wife owns the businesses now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter also drew criticism when he bought a tract of land in Camden County, saying in 2020 that he had purchased the area to hunt and fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He did not include the property in personal financial disclosures to Congress or tell the Federal Aviation Administration about the tract of land when he advocated for a spaceport project near the land, according to Savannah Morning News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Carter told the outlet that he didn\u2019t need to report the land because it was for personal use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou only report real property that you hold if it\u2019s solely for the purpose of investment or the generation of income,\u201d he told the news outlet at the time. \u201cAnd that property is not for investment, and it\u2019s certainly not for the generation of income.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Current noted that Carter later looked to sell his property when the spaceport project fell through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dooley, who has Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019s (R) endorsement and is polling in third place, laid low in Sunday\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although, the former Tenneessee Volunteers coach did take an implicit jab at both Collins and Carter, the two frontrunners, arguing that Washington, D.C. needed a political outsider in the Senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time we start sending a different kind of leadership to Washington, because Congress is not working for the people the way it used to,\u201d Dooley said during his closing remarks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a rise in careerism, we\u2019ve seen a rise in corruption, but mostly it\u2019s the inaction, where we\u2019re yelling and screaming and we\u2019re not working together to deliver results for the people of Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The debate was largely respectful, as Collins and Carter clearly sought to align themselves with President Trump, lauding the president\u2019s military operation in Iran as well as his pushes to acquire Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Dooley also took some opportunities to compliment the president, he used the phrase \u201cGeorgia First\u201d to describe his political vision instead of Trump\u2019s \u201cAmerica First,\u201d which Collins and Carter both invoked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins and Carter as well as Dooley are seen as the frontrunners in the race for the GOP nomination to take on Ossoff in November, with a primary set for May 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recent polling, however, has shown Dooley trailing behind the two congressman, and he didn\u2019t secure a standout moment o elevate his posture during Sunday\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given this crowded Republican primary field, it appears unlikely that one candidate will receive at least half of the vote outright in May, and the election will likely advance to a June 16 runoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n