Balancing Trump criticism and bipartisanship, Democrat Jon Ossoff walks a fine line in Georgia

MARIETTA, Ga. – There's the Jon Ossoff who built his governmental vocation astir criticizing Donald Trump.

There's besides the Ossoff who works with Republicans, advancing the interests of Georgia's farmers and subject bases.

But they’re the aforesaid feline — a 38-year-old first-term U.S. legislator from Georgia who says his contention volition beryllium the “main event” successful 2026. He's the lone Democratic legislator seeking reelection from a authorities Trump carried successful winning past year's statesmanlike election.

Ossoff is among galore Democrats looking for the close mode to situation Trump and Republicans aft the GOP won the White House and congressional majorities successful 2024. While immoderate Democrats whitethorn beryllium eyeing the presidency successful 2028, Ossoff has a much contiguous extremity -- retaining his spot successful Georgia, wherever Republicans anticipation to pad their constrictive Senate majority.

Still, midterm elections typically favour the enactment opposing the president. And Republicans successful caller years person often nominated candidates seen by moderates arsenic as excessively extreme, including successful Georgia.

Ossoff, meanwhile, picks his spots carefully, challenging Trump vigorously connected immoderate fronts portion inactive professing a willingness to enactment with him. In caller weeks, helium launched his reelection bid with a blistering critique of Trump's 2nd term, weathered disapproval from Democrats that helium wasn't warring hard enough, and touted patriotism and work to imaginable subject academy students astatine Dobbins Air Reserve Base successful Marietta.

Fighting Trump and moving with him

Ossoff says there’s nary clash betwixt bipartisanship and warring Trump, but successful this still-early signifier of the 2nd Trump administration, he's intelligibly looking to onslaught the close balance. Georgia voters returned to Trump successful 2024 aft narrowly choosing Democrat Joe Biden successful 2020 and giving Democrats power of the Senate by electing Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in duplicate runoffs.

“My archetypal and highest work is to present for the authorities of Georgia,” Ossoff said successful an interrogation with The Associated Press, vowing to prosecute “opportunities to enactment with this medication oregon to proceed to spouse with Republicans successful Congress.”

But Ossoff isn't caller to criticizing Trump. He became a absorption leader successful his unsuccessful 2017 run successful the archetypal peculiar predetermination of Trump's archetypal term, mounting a then-record for spending connected a House seat.

“We person ne'er seen a president effort to wield the national authorities to crush his critics and governmental adversaries. That is thing caller successful American history, and it is, successful my view, un-American,” Ossoff said. “And it’s thing that should chill america to the bone, nary substance our politics, nary substance our argumentation preferences.”

At a caller municipality hall, immoderate voters pressed Ossoff to much straight face Trump.

“Do you deliberation that there’s thing going to beryllium done?" asked Kate Denny, of Avondale Estates. ”No. Do thing more."

While Ossoff told Denny that “there is nary uncertainty that this president’s behaviour has already exceeded immoderate anterior modular for impeachment,” helium besides said helium has “no magic button” to halt Trump. The lone reliable solution, helium said, is reclaiming the House and the Senate.

Ossoff said helium won't alteration his approach.

“I americium who I am, and I talk directly, I talk candidly," Ossoff said. "I besides deliberation earlier I speak.”

Democrats had hoped 2021 victories by Ossoff and Warnock signaled the party's resurgence successful Georgia. But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp cruised to reelection successful 2022 implicit Democrat Stacey Abrams. Warnock needed a runoff to dispatch the flawed Senate campaign of erstwhile shot prima Herschel Walker.

In 2024, Georgia voters favored Trump implicit then-Vice President Kamala Harris by 2 percent points. Many Republicans stake Ossoff's predetermination successful 2020 was a fluke and purpose to support him from moving to the halfway as Warnock did successful 2022.

“Ossoff's far-left authorities lone worked successful circumstantial infinitesimal of GOP chaos,” Republican governmental advisor Dan McLagan said. “Now it's similar he's showing up astatine a Lee Greenwood Fourth of July performance with a ‘Free Palestine’ motion and a Che Guevara T-shirt. Everyone has already seen him, and it's excessively precocious to alteration his clothes.”

Moves person rankled immoderate Democrats

Even wrong his ain party, Ossoff's people hasn't ever been smooth. Some Black Democrats took discourtesy astatine his effort to oust U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams of Atlanta arsenic seat of the Democratic Party of Georgia. The enactment changed its rules to marque the presumption paid and afloat time, with Williams stepping down earlier Democrats elected a caller chair Saturday. Ossoff said helium asked Williams to quit, saying that to advancement “Georgia Democrats request a statewide enactment enactment with nationally unparalleled professionalism, resources and capabilities.”

The archetypal Jewish legislator from Georgia, Ossoff besides upset galore Jewish voters erstwhile helium supported a November solution by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an autarkic who caucuses with Democrats, to artifact the merchantability of immoderate weapons to Israel.

The ballot earned Ossoff a nationalist missive of rebuke from galore Jewish institutions, including The Temple, the historical Atlanta synagogue wherever helium had his barroom mitzvah. A 2nd letter, archetypal reported by The New York Times, was sent privately by apical Jewish donors to Kemp urging him to question Ossoff's seat.

In April, Ossoff voted against a caller acceptable of Sanders resolutions, and tensions person eased, said Alli Medof, a Democrat agelong progressive for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group. “The somesthesia is lowered, but the spot level is not yet restored," she said.

Ossoff touts his occurrence successful getting India to little tariffs connected Georgia-grown pecans and has cultivated voters successful Republican areas beyond Atlanta. He enthusiastically backed Biden's incentives to physique electrical vehicles and has competed with Kemp to instrumentality recognition for investments.

Ossoff walks a finer enactment connected immigration. He voted for the Laken Riley Act, which requires detention of immigrants who are successful the U.S. illiegally and are accused of theft and convulsive crimes. The instrumentality is named aft a slain Georgia nursing student whose lawsuit Republicans publicized. Ossoff said that Americans “deserve unafraid borders” and that “the Biden medication failed successful its borderline policies," but helium besides says migration argumentation indispensable beryllium "humane.”

Republicans person already launched ads attacking Ossoff's opposition to a bill barring schools from allowing transgender women to enactment successful women’s sports. Ossoff calls that an obsession astir voters don't share.

Ossoff the investigator

One of Ossoff's trademark moves is to denote investigations — a callback to his occupation producing documentaries examining corruption earlier helium ran for the Senate.

“I deliberation that successful immoderate ways, Congress has neglected present for decades the vigorous usage of our oversight authorities," Ossoff said astatine the municipality hall.

One probe led to the Federal Prison Oversight Act, which mandated situation inspections and created an ombudsman to analyse complaints. But not each betterment moves person succeeded. After announcing a bipartisan statement successful July to ban legislature banal trading — a large taxable of Ossoff's winning run against Republican Sen. David Perdue — the woody went nowhere.

One question is who Ossoff's Republican hostile volition be. Kemp, apt the strongest GOP candidate, whitethorn diminution to run. If helium opts out, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is 1 imaginable Republican candidate.

Greene could beryllium Ossoff's imagination opponent, and helium has seemed to invitation her introduction — betting the northbound Georgia firebrand would repel plaything voters who couldn't tummy Walker.

Either way, the contention won't beryllium cheap. Ossoff raised $11.2 cardinal successful 2025's archetypal 4th and is already spending heavily.

Ossoff declines to sermon imaginable opponents but says he's ready.

“I invited immoderate challenger," helium said, “and I americium much than prepared for immoderate challenger.”

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