Georgia — United States Senate
The rest of this desk is judgement, published with a number so the certified result can grade it. The ledger is the opposite instrument. Same headings for every candidate, same word budget in every cell, sources that are the candidate's own. Nothing here is weighed, scored or ranked, and there is no line at the bottom telling you what it means.
Why this race first
Rated a toss-up on the desk's board. A Democratic first-termer defending in a state that voted the other way at the top of the ticket in 2024.
State of the field
The Democratic nomination is effectively settled and is shown as a head-to-head column. The Republican nomination is not, so the primary field is shown in full. Columns collapse to two the day the canvass certifies a nominee.
Why the board looks empty
It is not a fault in the page. On 2026-08-04 the desk narrowed the source class to official campaign policy pages only — no government office issues pages, no voting records, no news paraphrase. At that date three of the four campaigns publish no policy content at all, so their cells stand empty and the silence ledger below carries the finding.
Official campaign policy sources only. Government office pages, news write-ups, interviews and third-party questionnaires are out of class and were not used, even where they were available.
Four campaigns checked, no policy platform published by any of them. One site (Ossoff) publishes a record-of-work list on its biography page, which supports a small number of cells. The other three publish biography, endorsements and fundraising only.
Jon Ossoff
https://electjon.comNo issues or platform page. The biography page publishes a list of what the campaign says he has fought to do, which is first-party and is used where it speaks to a heading.
Buddy Carter
https://buddycarter.comSingle splash page: slogan, sign-up form, donation links. No policy content of any kind at the pass date.
Mike Collins
https://mikecollinsga.comBiography, endorsements, events, press and store. The biography names two bills he passed; there is no issues page and no stated forward platform.
Derek Dooley
https://www.dooleyforgeorgia.comQuestion-and-answer page on why he is running and his background. No policy page; the only forward commitment stated is to work with the president on his agenda.
Cells matched by the desk against a first-party source read 'Source matched'. They become 'Signed' only when the editor of record countersigns them. Until then the badge says exactly how far the check has got, and no further.
United States Senator for Georgia since 2021
Democrat
United States Representative, Georgia's 1st district
Republican
United States Representative, Georgia's 10th district
Republican
First-time candidate; former college football head coach
Republican
Cost of living
What would they do about prices, wages and household costs?
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists capping insulin at $35 a month for seniors and lowering housing prices among the things he has fought to do.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Taxes
Whose taxes go up, whose go down, and which provisions do they extend?
Jon Ossoff
No stated position
Ossoff campaign site publishes no policy platform; heading not addressed in the record list.
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Health care
Coverage, drug pricing, and the future of the exchanges.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists the insulin cap, upgraded care for pregnant women, babies and children, new health facilities statewide, and expanding Medicaid in Georgia.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Immigration
Enforcement, the border, and status for people already here.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists strengthening border security among the things he has fought to do. No stated position on status for people already here.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
Biography states he passed the Laken Riley Act, following the murder of a Georgia student, and names it his answer on the issue. No forward platform stated.
mikecollinsga.com — campaign biography
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Energy
Production, permitting, and the clean-energy credits.
Jon Ossoff
No stated position
Ossoff campaign site publishes no policy platform; heading not addressed in the record list.
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Abortion
What federal law, if any, should govern access.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists defending women's freedom of choice in reproductive health care among the things he has fought to do. No stated federal mechanism.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Guns
What restrictions or protections they would vote for.
Jon Ossoff
No stated position
Ossoff campaign site publishes no policy platform; heading not addressed in the record list.
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Trade
Tariffs, and who sets them — Congress or the president.
Jon Ossoff
No stated position
Ossoff campaign site publishes no policy platform; heading not addressed in the record list.
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Spending and debt
What they would cut, and what they would protect.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists protecting Social Security and Medicare, and strengthening Social Security benefits for public servants. No stated position on cuts elsewhere.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
Biography states a record of eliminating government bureaucracy and identifying inefficiencies. No spending figure, cap or target stated.
mikecollinsga.com — campaign biography
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Elections
Voting rules, certification, and federal election law.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists banning members of Congress from trading stocks. No stated position on voting rules, certification or federal election law.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
No stated position
Collins campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Georgia's industrial corridor
GeorgiaThe Savannah port, the Hyundai plant and the battery supply chain built around them — what happens to the incentives and the workforce.
Jon Ossoff
Campaign lists attracting thousands of manufacturing jobs to Georgia, helping growers export more, and statewide infrastructure and high-speed internet.
electjon.com — campaign biography, record list
Buddy Carter
No stated position
Carter campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Mike Collins
Biography states three trucking and logistics businesses built in Georgia and a freight and water-resources subcommittee chairmanship. No corridor policy stated.
mikecollinsga.com — campaign biography
Derek Dooley
No stated position
Dooley campaign site publishes no policy platform; no first-party statement on this heading.
Headings where a candidate has published nothing the desk could locate. This is a factual observation about the public record on the retrieval date. It is not a criticism, and on most boards it is the most informative panel on the page.
- Jon Ossoff4 of 11 headingsTaxes · Energy · Guns · Trade
- Buddy Carter11 of 11 headingsCost of living · Taxes · Health care · Immigration · Energy · Abortion · Guns · Trade · Spending and debt · Elections · Georgia's industrial corridor
- Mike Collins8 of 11 headingsCost of living · Taxes · Health care · Energy · Abortion · Guns · Trade · Elections
- Derek Dooley11 of 11 headingsCost of living · Taxes · Health care · Immigration · Energy · Abortion · Guns · Trade · Spending and debt · Elections · Georgia's industrial corridor
Asymmetry is bias with the fingerprints wiped off. So the page counts itself in public.
Jon Ossoff
149 words · 7/11 stated · 11/11 source-matched
Buddy Carter
0 words · 0/11 stated · 11/11 source-matched
Mike Collins
66 words · 3/11 stated · 11/11 source-matched
Derek Dooley
0 words · 0/11 stated · 11/11 source-matched
Spread between the longest and shortest column: 149 words. Every cell is capped at 28. The remaining difference is candidates who have said nothing on a heading, not the desk giving one of them more room.
Symmetry audit passing — every heading filled for every candidate, no cell over budget
Portraits · board class house
This board is published at the house-render class: each image is a painted render made from the candidate’s own government-issued portrait, public domain at source, cut to one ratio on one flat field under one frontal light so no face is lit, coloured or framed better than another. The likeness is not flattered, slimmed, aged, hardened or brightened, and no expression is added that the source did not carry. Where a candidate has issued no portrait of that class, there is nothing compliant to render from, so the slot stays typographic rather than dropping to a candid or a wire frame for one person, and the exception is named below rather than hidden.
4 / 5 · Head and shoulders, eyes on the upper third, shoulders running off the bottom edge · Sleyor house render, painted from the candidate’s own official portrait — identical rectangular crop with the shoulders bled off the bottom edge (no oval or floating cut-out), flat bone-white field, even frontal light, no retouching of the likeness
- Jon Ossoff — Sleyor house render — from the official U.S. Senate portrait (public domain)
- Buddy Carter — Sleyor house render — from the official U.S. House portrait (public domain)
- Mike Collins — Sleyor house render — from the official U.S. House portrait (public domain)
- Derek Dooley — No portrait of the board class issued — declared exception
- Derek Dooley — No official or press-kit portrait has been issued, so there is no compliant source to render from. Rather than drop to a lower class for one candidate, the slot stays typographic and is declared here.
Same headings, same budget, every candidate
Eleven headings, identical for every column, each cell capped at 28 words. The page audits itself on load and prints the word count of each column at the bottom. Asymmetry is the bias — if one candidate got four sentences on health care and another got one, an argument would have been made without anyone writing one.
Official campaign policy sources only
A cell may rest only on policy the candidate's own campaign publishes. Not the officeholder's taxpayer-funded government issues page — that is government communication, and counting it would let sitting members look detailed while a challenger looked empty. Never a reporter's characterisation, never an interview paraphrase, never an opponent's advertisement.
Silence is reported, not punished
Where a candidate's campaign has not addressed a heading, the cell reads 'No stated position' and the candidate appears in the silence ledger. That is a factual observation about the public record on the retrieval date, and it is not a criticism. On this board it is most of the board.
Three states, and the badge says which
Platforms move, so each cell is dated individually and carries its own check state. 'Source match pending' means nobody here has opened the source. 'Source matched' means the desk read the campaign's own page on the pass date and it carries that wording. 'Signed' means the editor of record has countersigned it as well. The badge never claims the next state up.
Pictures follow the same rules as words
Every candidate carries an identical portrait slot at the same ratio, framing and treatment, and images appear only when a single class of source — official portraits, campaign press kits, or house artwork — covers the whole field. Where one candidate has no compliant image, nobody gets one and the slot stays typographic. The picture audit prints at the foot of the page with the word counts.
No ranking, no scoring, no winner
The Count rates races and grades itself on those ratings. The ledger rates nobody. There is no scorecard here, no closeness measure, no 'both sides agree' summary line. You are given the two records and you do the rest.
If a cell misstates a candidate's position, the desk wants the first-party source that shows it. Corrections are made to the cell, the retrieval date is reset, and the change is logged in the open — never edited silently.
This board stays unscored on purpose. The left-right placement lives on its own page, with five printed policy anchors per heading, silence excluded rather than counted as moderation, and no overall number published for a candidate whose campaign has said too little to measure.
The Placement Scale