Georgia congressman Buddy Carter launches 'MAGA warrior' GOP bid for 2026 Senate race against Ossoff

Caption

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter speaks at a Trump campaign rally at the Savannah Civic Center on Sept. 24, 2024.

Credit: Benjamin Payne / GPB News

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter of Pooler in Savannah's Chatham County announced Thursday he is running for U.S. Senate, becoming the first Republican to enter the Georgia race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Carter, 67, has since 2015 represented Georgia's 1st Congressional District — a largely rural swath of Southeast Georgia that he has carried easily in past elections, but which also includes Carter's home county of Chatham, which voted against him last year.

In an ad released Thursday, Carter's campaign described him as a "MAGA warrior," with the video also featuring remarks from President Donald Trump's Savannah rally in September, where Trump called Carter a "warrior" and "great guy."

Carter is an outspoken supporter of Trump, having taken to the podium as an introductory speaker at that event.

"We've got to have Donald J. Trump back in office," Carter said then. "Look at what's happening: the world is on fire. Look at what — all the wars. This would not have happened under Donald Trump. This would not happen under his presidency. We were respected on the world stage. We need to be respected again on the world stage."

Shortly after Trump began his second term, Carter made national headlines when he introduced a bill that sought to rename Greenland as "Red, White, and Blueland," as Trump voiced support for annexing the Danish territory.

"America is back and will soon be bigger than ever with the addition of Red, White, and Blueland," Carter said in a statement on the bill. "President Trump has correctly identified the purchase of what is now Greenland as a national security priority, and we will proudly welcome its people to join the freest nation to ever exist when our Negotiator-in-Chief inks this monumental deal."

In response to Carter's Senate campaign announcement, Ossoff campaign manager Ellen Foster released a statement saying that the first-term incumbent would "defeat any challenger" in 2026.

"While the GOP primary field scrambles to outmaneuver each other and audition for Donald Trump's support," Foster's statement read, "Senator Ossoff's campaign is already building the most effective and unstoppable turnout effort in Georgia's history."

The Republican primary race is expected to be a hotly contested one, after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp — once considered a potential GOP front-runner for the U.S. Senate — announced Monday he would not run.