Democrat Jon Ossoff has won re-election to the United States Senate in Georgia, defeating Republican challenger Mike Collins in the first major call of midterm election night, according to projections by NBC News and Decision Desk HQ.
The result keeps a seat Republicans had once viewed as one of their best chances to flip, after polls showed Ossoff pulling away in the final stretch of a campaign that became a referendum on President Donald Trump. Georgia was carried twice by Trump, but Ossoff led in polling through the summer, at times by double digits.
Ossoff, 39, is the youngest member of the Senate. He began in politics as an intern for the late congressman John Lewis in his native Atlanta area, later worked as an investigative journalist focused on corruption, and won his Senate seat in a 2021 runoff against Republican David Perdue.
The Georgia call is the first major Senate result of a night that will decide control of both chambers of Congress and shape the remainder of Trump’s second term. Republicans entered the election with a 53-47 majority in the Senate and a narrow 218-214 edge in the House, and early counting also showed Democrats ahead in the national House popular vote, according to Associated Press tallies.
The midterms have become a test of Trump’s agenda, with voters weighing the cost of living, immigration enforcement and the war in Iran. Polls closed at 7 p.m. Eastern time in eight states, including Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire and South Carolina, with further key Senate contests in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan and Maine still to be decided as counting continued.
Ossoff has repeatedly denied interest in a 2028 presidential run, saying his focus is on Georgia, even as his sharp criticism of Trump has excited Democratic activists nationally. His re-election gives Democrats an early boost on a night when control of the Senate may not be settled until slower-counting states, including Alaska and California, finish their counts.
Note: this result is a projection by NBC News and Decision Desk HQ, not a certified official result.
Sources: USA TODAY live midterm results coverage, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/11/03/midterm-elections-results-updates-2026–live/91892413007/ ; Associated Press election results, https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/
