Will Georgia's leftward shift in 2020, which saw the election of President Joe Biden as well as two new Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, turn out to be a momentary blip? It looks to go both ways, given that Warnock was reelected in 2022, though Republican Gov. Brian Kemp was reelected that year as well and President Donald Trump won Georgia as well as every one of the six other swing states in 2024. There may be further indication come 2026, when Ossoff is up for reelection. His seat is certainly one that the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) is keeping an eye out on.
Over the weekend, the NRSC X account shared a piece from The New York Times, highlighting both how Ossoff is Jewish and also losing Jewish support. "Georgia’s First Jewish Senator Is Losing Jewish Support," the headline read.
Jon Ossoff hoped his silence in the face of rising antisemitism from his Party & support of a Bernie Sanders amendment blocking weapons from Israel would go unnoticed.
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) February 15, 2025
Instead it will clearly have lasting consequences. #GApolhttps://t.co/F8JIiHLlhB
Both the article and the post from the NRSC mentioned a vote from Ossoff last November, shortly after the 2024 election, on anti-Israel bills from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as we covered at the time.
From that article:
On [November 23], Sanders introduced three resolutions, including S.J.Res.111, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services," which failed 18-79; S.J.Res.113, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to the Government of Israel of certain defense articles and services," which failed 19-79; and S.J.Res.115, "providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed license amendment for the export of certain defense articles, defense services, and technical data to Israel," which failed 17-80.
All of the "yay" votes were from Democrats, and many were the usual suspects. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who just narrowly won reelection earlier this month, voted "present" on all three resolutions. One name garnering particular attention, though, for his "yay" vote on two of the three resolutions is Sen. Jon Ossoff, from Georgia. Although he voted against S.J.Res.115, he still voted in favor of S.J.Res.111 and S.J.Res.113.
The reaction against all Democrats voting in favor of such resolutions was swift and severe, including in the replies section of Ossoff's own post to X about his reasons for his votes on the resolutions. Many pointed to him siding with Hamas with such a vote, rather than Israel, our ally in the Middle East in the Israel-Hamas conflict that's been in place since October 7 of last year when Hamas terrorists brutally attacked the Jewish State.
Recommended
Ossoff has also been in office during a post-October 7 world, with the Democratic Party in serious disarray over support for Israel. This isn't just in Congress. According to a poll from The Economist/YouGov earlier this month, a plurality of Democratic respondents say they sympathize more with Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas conflict, while just 9 percent say they sympathize more with Israel.
The New York Times also highlighted support for Kemp to run against Ossoff, including from Jewish Democrats:
Now, some of [Ossoff's] fellow Jewish Democrats have not only turned on him — they are also encouraging the most formidable Republican who could challenge him in next year’s marquee Senate race, Gov. Brian Kemp, to do just that.
“As a bipartisan group of leaders in the metropolitan Atlanta Jewish community, we humbly ask you to consider running for the United States Senate in 2026,” read a private mid-December letter to Mr. Kemp from some of the state’s major political donors and Jewish community leaders, which was reviewed by The New York Times.
“Should you decide to run in the 2026 election,” the letter said, “you would find no better friends, more loyal allies or stronger supporters than us and our community.”
The letter, which came after Mr. Ossoff voted to block certain weapons transfers to Israel and criticized its conduct of the war in Gaza, was a striking rebuke of a senator who has highlighted his Jewish identity and voted for billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel.
And it vividly illustrated how the war continues to scramble and threaten the Democratic coalition, even as party officials strain to mount a unified response to President Trump.
“I took great pride to see a young Jewish man find the successes that he has,” said Isaac Frank, a Democrat from a prominent Atlanta Jewish family who signed the letter to Mr. Kemp. “I just feel like he’s somewhat disconnected from where our community is, given post-Oct. 7.”
Later in the lengthy piece, there's mention of how state Rep. Esther Panitch, a Jewish Democrat, would consider voting for Kemp if he were the nominee against Ossoff. That comes even as the governor supports policies she's against, like pro-life legislation restricting abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
As the article also mentioned, "...Ms. Panitch did not rule out supporting Mr. Kemp if he ran. 'Kemp has done things that I am fighting against every day,' said Ms. Panitch, pointing to his signing of a six-week abortion ban. 'But it is a different level of betrayal that Ossoff has committed.'"
The NRSC also put out a statement from their communications director, Joanna Rodriguez, who touched upon plenty of other concerns to do with Ossoff.
"Jon Ossoff hoped his silence in the face of rising antisemitism from his Party and support of a Bernie Sanders amendment blocking weapons from Israel would go unnoticed," Rodriguez said. "Instead it will clearly have lasting consequences. Georgians deserve a real champion, not a coward like Ossoff who stands against Israel and has to be begged by grieving parents to fight for murdered young Georgians like Rose Lubin and Laken Riley."
Rose Lubin, was a 20-year-old killed while serving as a Border Police officer in Israel, according to the article. "Mr. Ossoff sponsored a resolution in her memory — but only, Mr. Lubin noted, after he had reached out and asked the senator 'very strongly' to do so," the article also mentioned.
Laken Riley was not mentioned in the article, though readers will know her as the 22-year-old nursing student murdered by an illegal immigrant, Jose Ibarra, who had come over during the Biden-Harris administration from Venezuela, and had also been arrested for crimes in New York City, a sanctuary city. Ibarra was found guilty last November, and the Laken Riley Act was also the first piece of legislation passed under President Donald Trump's second term.
Ossoff's seat is considered a top battleground to watch, and the NRSC seems to be well aware of this fact.
The very same day that the NRSC shared the article from The New York Times, they also reposted the Republican Jewish Coalition's (RJC) Matt Brooks.
Senator @ossoff is no friend of Israel.
— RJC (@RJC) February 15, 2025
It’s why he voted with far left, anti-Israel Democrats like Bernie Sanders to withhold critical military support to the Jewish state as it fights barbaric Iran-backed terrorists.
Defeating Jon Ossoff is the RJC’s top priority in 2026. https://t.co/wnuIzTepdR
Brooks, who tagged Ossoff, referred to the senator as "no friend of Israel" and also brought up his support for one of Sanders' resolutions. "Defeating Jon Ossoff is the RJC’s top priority in 2026," Brooks also declared.
He had been reposting The New York Times' Annie Gluck, who highlighted the takeaway from the article focusing on Jewish leaders.
Ossoff won fewer votes than then Republican Sen. David Purdue in the November 2020 election, though Purdue still won less than 50 percent of the total vote, forcing the two into a runoff election on January 5, with Ossoff this time emerging victorious.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member