Georgia Senate Candidate Under Fire for Boasting About Fake High-Profile Endorsements

(Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who’s running in the Republican primary to take on Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA), is under fire for boasting about fake high-profile endorsements on his campaign website and X accounts.

According to The Daily Caller, “Several Georgia sheriffs, commissioners, and local representatives have appeared on both Collins’ and Republican candidate Derek Dooley’s endorsement lists. Some of these discrepancies seem to be a simple change of heart, while some officials suggested the Collins campaign was intentionally inflating its roster of endorsements.”

One of the endorsements in question named Wayne County Sheriff Chuck Moseley, who said he asked the Collins campaign twice to remove his name from the list. Moseley told the Caller that he was supporting rival candidate Dooley, an attorney and football coach.

“I wouldn’t vote for [Collins] if he’s the only one running,” Moseley told the Caller.

Two other officials listed as endorsing Collins — Grady County Sheriff Earl Prince and Grady County Commissioner Sam Kines —  were apparently unaware that their names were being used by Collins when they were informed by GOP Grady County Chair Jeff Jolly.

“Both of them looked at me funny, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ They didn’t know anything about it,” Jolly told the Caller.

Prince told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “I have never spoken to Mike Collins or any of his people. My name was used without my permission, and I have no use for anybody that does business that way.”

When reached for comment, the Collins campaign blamed the mix-ups on underhanded dealings by the Dooley campaign.

“After spending months calling through Mike’s nearly 1,000 endorsements, Derek Dooley’s C-rate campaign team finally convinced a couple of recruits to flip— which is fitting, since that was about the same conversion rate Derek had as a football coach,” a Collins campaign spokesman told the Caller.

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