Republican · Georgia Senate · 2026
Mike Collins
Collins started his trucking business at 25 with a single semi.
Biography
Mike Collins and his wife, Leigh Ann, started a trucking company in the early 1990s and built it into a business employing more than 100 people.1 He was born and raised in Jackson, Georgia, where he still lives.1 The couple have three grown children and four grandchildren.1
Collins earned a business degree at Georgia State University and has chaired a credit union board and served as president of his local Chamber of Commerce.1 His father, the late Mac Collins, also served in Congress.2 Mike Collins entered Congress in 2023 after winning Georgia’s 10th District in 2022.3
His TRANQ Research Act became law in 2023, directing federal research on detecting and understanding synthetic opioids.4 He also sponsored the House version of the Laken Riley Act.5 The measure became law through its Senate version in January 2025.6 It requires immigration detention for certain noncitizens arrested for or charged with theft and other listed crimes, including some violent offenses.7
Collins is challenging Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff after winning the Republican nomination in June.8 He backs Trump’s 2025 tax and spending law and mass deportation campaign, and argues deregulation and expanded domestic energy production will lower costs.9 Health funding is a dividing line: Ossoff opposes that law’s Medicaid reductions and wants enhanced insurance subsidies restored.9
Record and controversies
Congressional ethics review
The Office of Congressional Conduct reported substantial reason to believe Collins used official resources for unauthorized purposes, including payments to an intern alleged not to have performed corresponding work.10 His office denied wrongdoing; his lawyer said the intern provided useful assistance and challenged the motives of former staff making allegations.10 The House Ethics Committee extended its review and explicitly cautioned that doing so did not establish a violation.11 A July report said the committee lost jurisdiction over former aide Brandon Phillips after his departure, while its review of Collins continued.12