Doug Collins says he won’t run for Georgia Senate, governor

Collins is the second prominent Georgia Republican to take his name out of the running for the Senate race, following former Sen. David Perdue.

Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) will not run for office next year, he announced on Monday, passing on challenging Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock or primarying GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins had been weighing both offices and was considered a potential top-tier candidate for Georgia Republicans aiming to reverse their losses in 2020, when President Joe Biden carried the state and Democrats won both Senate seats. He is the second prominent Georgia Republican to take his name out of the running for the Senate race, following former Sen. David Perdue.

“I am announcing today that I will not be a candidate for any office in the next election cycle,” Collins wrote in a statement on Twitter.

Collins had been a prominent House Republican, including serving as ranking member on the Judiciary Committee. He ran for Senate last year, challenging appointed GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the special election to replace Sen. Johnny Isakson, who resigned. Collins finished third in the Senate race in November, trailing Loeffler, who went on to lose the January runoff to Warnock.

The decision from Collins leaves a hole for Republicans around the Senate race. Herschel Walker, the former University of Georgia running back, has signaled interest in the race, and former President Donald Trump has publicly encouraged him to run. Two candidates, Republicans Latham Saddler and Kelvin King, are already running. GOP Rep. Buddy Carter has floated himself as a candidate, though he has said he will not run if Walker does.

In the governor’s race, Vernon Jones, a party-switching former state representative, has already announced a primary challenge to Kemp. Democrat Stacey Abrams, who lost to Kemp in 2018, is widely expected to run again.