Representative Mike Collins of Georgia announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, ending weeks of speculation that he would challenge Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff in 2026. Collins, a second-term Republican who authored the Laken Riley Act and is considered Congress’s most active cryptocurrency trader, said Ossoff “must go” and indicated he would continue to seek guidance from former President Donald Trump as the campaign unfolds. Collins enters an already crowded Republican primary that includes Representative Buddy Carter and state Insurance Commissioner John King after Governor Brian Kemp declined to run. Early polling points to a tight general election: a Trafalgar Group survey in April put Ossoff ahead 47.5% to 42.8%, and a May Cygnal poll showed a narrower 45.7% to 43.3% gap, both well within the margin of error and more than a year before Election Day. Separately, former Ohio senator Sherrod Brown met with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in Cleveland over the weekend as Brown considers a 2026 bid to reclaim a seat now in Republican hands. The discussions underscore how both parties are already positioning themselves for a midterm map that could determine control of the chamber.