Two months into President Donald Trump’s second term and nearly two years before Election Day 2026, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff soft launched his reelection bid with a boisterous Atlanta rally, telling supporters, “Georgia will bow to no king.”
Hoping to channel the frustrations and fears of Democrats ahead of what will likely be one of the most contentious and expensive Senate races, Ossoff tore into Trump and billionaire Elon Musk for slashing federal programs and eroding democratic principles.
“Atlanta, this is not a drill,” Ossoff said. “As citizens, this is the test of our lifetimes.”
Ossoff was joined on stage by Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a call back to the upset 2021 runoff election that propelled Georgia’s first Jewish and Black senators to Washington. That year, Georgia awarded its electoral votes to a Democrat for the first time in decades, Joe Biden. But four years later, Trump recaptured the state and the presidency, leaving some Democrats feeling despondent or rudderless.
“Maybe right now you feel surrounded by darkness,” Ossoff told the crowd. “You might be a little numb. You might be wondering if there’s a way out. But Atlanta, we don’t have the luxury of despair.”
In the Senate race, the GOP field has remained largely paralyzed as term-limited Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp weighs a Senate run in 2026 or a presidential bid in 2028.
A top national Republican official told WABE in February that Kemp had been discussing a possible bid with National Republican Senatorial Campaign chair Sen. Tim Scott. Other top Georgia Republicans have expressed interest in running, though indicating they would not enter the race unless Kemp takes a pass.
“Jon Ossoff cares more about hating Donald Trump than delivering for the people of Georgia,” NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia wrote in a statement. “It’s pathetic and in 2026, Georgians will dump Ossoff for a leader who will truly fight for them.”
Saturday’s event had all the trappings of a campaign rally. The at-capacity crowd of roughly 2,000 at the Eastern, a live music venue in Reynoldstown, waved blue “Jon Ossoff” placards and American flags. Volunteers distributed lawn signs.
But Ossoff did not explicitly mention his upcoming election. Instead, he told the crowd, “these are serious times,” and focused on three themes he says define the Trump presidency so far: chaos, corruption and fear.
Over roughly four years in the Senate, Ossoff has not been a cable news regular like some of his colleagues. You are more likely to hear him touting a bipartisan bill while touring a citrus orchard in Ochlocknee or a new VA hospital in Augusta. Pursuing a second term in a closely-divided state, Ossoff has to appeal to independent voters in all corners of Georgia while also energizing a Democratic base fuming over Trump.
At the rally, Ossoff eviscerated Trump and his allies’ moves to punish political opponents, defy court rulings and abruptly slash the footprint of the federal government, including deep cuts at the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Atlanta VA Hospital.
“Government programs aren’t sacred. They have to work,” Ossoff said. “But when you shut down research into Alzheimer’s treatments and cures for childhood cancer, that’s not efficiency, that’s just cruelty and chaos.”
The speech also allowed Ossoff to test some campaign messages, as party leaders continue to debate and unpack how Democrats fell short in 2024. Ossoff tried to tie his critique of Trump back to economic issues, asking voters whether the president’s actions will improve the lives of their families.
“When was the last time you even heard Donald Trump talk about health care or child care?” Ossoff asked. “He’s talking about invading Greenland. He’s handing your data over to Elon Musk.”
Since November, some Democrats have felt defeated. Others feel angry. At town halls, including a virtual Q&A hosted by Warnock this month, voters flooded the livestream feeds with comments like, “We know what’s happening. We need action.”
A few voters shouted similar sentiments on Saturday as Warnock and Ossoff spoke. “What’s your plan? How do we stop it?”
“We are pushing back every single day,” Ossoff said. “We understand the assignment.”
Julia Nicole Marulanda traveled from Coweta County and joined the photo line after the rally hoping to speak with Ossoff personally. Marulanda was disappointed in Ossoff’s vote to confirm Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but overall has been satisfied with Ossoff’s performance.
“I needed to talk to him in person,” Marulanda said. “I got the chance to tell him how important it is for someone like him in his position of power to rally behind trans people. We are your grocers. We are your retail associates. We are salt of the earth people who do work just like everyone else, and we’re trying not to live in fear.”
Non-profit executive Karen Rene, who left the rally with two Ossoff yard signs, said she had been feeling exhausted after a string of difficult campaigns and now the flood of news coming from the White House.
“You know what, today is the first day I was really excited,” Rene said. “I’ve gotten energized again and I’m ready to go back out and fight. If you’re not in the game fighting, you’re on the menu to be sliced.”
While Rene has been pleased with her own senators, she said it seems like some other Democrats nationally are just “going along to get along.” Some Democrats have vented frustration in recent days with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who voted for House Republicans’ budget proposal as a shutdown threat loomed.
“I am honestly disappointed in a lot of our Democratic leaders because I don’t think a lot of them are fighting,” Rene said. “I think they really do need to be ringing the bell, sounding the alarm to let people know what is actually happening.”
