Former football coach Derek Dooley announces Georgia Senate bid for 20

There’s a new Republican candidate jumping into one of the most crucial Senate races in the 2026 midterm elections.

Former longtime football coach Derek Dooley highlighted his outsider credentials, took aim at Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, and showcased his support for President Donald Trump as he declared his candidacy on Monday.

 “I’m running because our state needs new leadership in Washington D.C., and professional politicians like Jon Ossoff are the problem,” Dooley said in a statement and video as he launched his campaign.

Dooley argued that “our state doesn’t have a voice in the U.S. Senate who reflects Georgia values because Ossoff is more concerned with protecting his own political future, opposing everything the Trump administration is working to accomplish, and repeatedly voting with the extreme left.”

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And he pledged that if elected to the Senate, “I’ll work with President Trump to implement his agenda, support his Administration, and move our country forward.”

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The Senate race in Georgia is crucial for Republicans aiming to expand their current 53-47 Senate majority, as they view Ossoff, who is running for re-election in a battleground state that Trump narrowly carried in last year’s presidential contest, as the most vulnerable Democrat on the ballot in next year’s midterms.

Republicans view Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections. (AP)

Dooley, who is the son of the late, legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, was a college football player who later served as a head coach at Louisiana Tech University and the University of Tennessee as well as an assistant coach in the National Football League. 

While this is his first run for public office, Republican sources confirm to Fox News that…