Updated on: October 13, 2026 / 9:56 PM EDT/ CBS Atlanta
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and his Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins, continued trading both personal and political attacks on Tuesday night as the politicians fought over the war with Iran, rising costs and the 2020 election results in a heated debate for who will represent Georgia in the Senate.
Ossoff — whose national profile has surged in recent years, leading to speculation that he could seek the White House — also confirmedonce againthat he has "zero interest in running for president" in 2028.
The debate, part of the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series, is the second and last exchange between the two Georgia lawmakers ahead of the midterm elections and comes on the same day asearly voting started in the state.
Both parties see the race as a pivotal election for who controls the Senate starting next year. Ossoff, the only Senate Democrat running for reelection in a state that President Trump won in 2024, is attempting to show that his 2021 runoff victory against then-incumbent Sen. David Perdue wasn't simply a temporary blue wave in the Peach State.
Both candidates continued the messagingin the first debate, with Collins repeating his allegation that Ossoff is an out-of-touch politician who cares more about online attention than everyday Georgians.
"This is a race between Georgia and Georgetown. Somebody that has created jobs and opportunities right here in Georgia on this red clay versus a globetrotting trust fund kid who got to the Senate and then at every turn has voted to make our life less safe, more expensive and worse off," Collins said.
Ossoff criticized the Republican lawmaker for what he called "widely documented and completely disqualifyingties to white nationalismand neo-Nazi ideology," and called Collins "an example of the Washington establishment."
"Congress is full of congressmen's sons who are only in Congress because their daddies were congressmen, just like Mike Collins, who are perfectly happy to send other people's children to die in war," he said. (Collins' father, Mac Collins, represented Georgia in the House for six terms ending in 2005.)
Collins responded by saying that the only thing his parents gave him "is the opportunity to go to work."
"Jon Ossoff, the only thing he knows about work is working the ATM machine, getting his granddaddy's money out of it," he said.
If Ossoff is reelected and the Democrats take control of the Senate, there is a possibility that the party pushes another attempt to impeach Mr. Trump.
Asked if he would support an impeachment effort, Ossoff did not give a specific yes-or-no answer, but he said that Mr. Trump's "misconduct, abuse of power and corruption already exceed any prior standard for impeachment."
"If the U.S. House does send us articles of impeachment, I will consider them on the merits as a juror in the Senate," he said.
When asked about being a presidential contender in 2028, Ossoff said he isn't planning on running and committed to a full six-year term. Ossoffalso said in August that he isn't interested.
