James_Sept-Oct_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 16
I don’t know any of the Republican candidates well, or really at
all. It is no secret that I was friends
with Vince and Barbara Dooley
(and remain in touch with Barbara,
who is one of our favorites). But
I’ve never met or talked to her son
Derek. And I don’t think Collins or
Carter could spot me in a lineup.
So as a pollster I don’t even
have to utter my usual “I know
them, they are all my friends, but
I’ll poll it down the middle” declaration. I may know their fathers, but I
don’t know them.
That said, here is quick take on
the “town” candidates.
Collins looks a lot like his late
dad. And I’m told he has the same
great political skills that Mac had.
Carter is a go-getter who has
often penned op-eds for the publications we own.
Dooley is the son of Georgia
legends and, while a political novice, has the backing of Georgia’s
At an April town hall meeting Ossoff strongly agreed Trump should be
impeached and noted the need for Democrats to win in the midterms
to make impeachment a reality. With that one statement he assured
himself a much closer contest by giving otherwise low propensity
voters— those who were determined to come out and vote
for Trump in 2024— a reason to return to the polls.
most powerful politician— the governor. With that comes the fierce
support of Kemp’s wife Marty, a
political force of her own.
I have no clue as to who will
win the GOP primary, only to add
that by the time the ink dries for
this edition of our magazine, Trump
may have weighed in. That has a
major impact on who becomes the
Republican nominee.
Regardless of which “town”
candidate wins the nod, they still
must take on Ossoff.
Obviously, the approval rating of Trump and the Republican
Congress will play a critical role in
how things turn out in November of
2026. Ossoff, while having danced
between the rain drops on numerous issues, will nevertheless be the
“liberal” in the contest. And there
will be plenty of ads painting him in
looks, style, and politics as the (socialist) Zohran Mamdani of Georgia.
But midterm elections are all
about turnout. In 2024 Georgia
voters turned out in droves to send
