Watch Ossoff criticize Trump and his opponents on anti-corruption platform
Sen. Jon Ossoff is using the Atlanta rally to build his re-election campaign around fighting corruption in Washington.
A conservative Georgia radio host is keeping his word and endorsing Democrat Jon Ossoff in the U.S. Senate race, a major ideological shift.
Shelley Winter, host of the Shelley Winter Show on 95.5 WSB in Atlanta, endorsed Ossoff in an interview with the senator on June 17, the day after U.S. Rep. Mike Collins defeated former college football coach Derek Dooley in the Republican runoff, after the host had publicly supported Dooley throughout the primary season.
“I’m here to tell you live on the radio for the rest of the summer that I’m Team Ossoff, and I’m going to do everything I can on this show to get re-elected,” Winter said after speaking with Ossoff. “I look at re-election as a job interview. In my humble opinion, I haven’t seen anything from Sen. Jon Ossoff that would warrant firing him.”
The Senate race is in the spotlight across the country because of President Trump’s vocal endorsement of Collins, and Republican control of Congress could extend to seats currently held by Democrats.
Why did the persona of a “never fearful black conservative” turn his back on the Republican candidate? Mike Collins is a moral compass, Winter says.
“If[Derek Dooley]is not the candidate, I will vote for Jon Ossoff.”
Georgia’s Republican Senate primary was a closely contested race, with Collins and Dooley the top two candidates as of election night in May. Collins had been leading in the polls for weeks, but as the former coach said, the Kemp-backed Dooley had made significant gains in the fourth quarter of the race.
As the pair prepared for a June run-off, Collins faced mounting criticism from his own party over comments he made about a woman who took her own life by one of his staffers (who was later fired) and for repeatedly saying he was proud of his staff and the campaign they were running. The staffer previously joined Mr. Collins at the center of the House ethics investigation after he was accused of paying a staffer’s girlfriend despite there being no evidence that she worked in his office.
In late May, Winter told Collins that he had “lost his moral center” and was a “person at the bottom of society”.
He said Collins’ campaign tactics were untenable and that if Dooley lost the June race, Winter would switch his support from the Republican candidate to the Democratic candidate.
“If[Derek Dooley]is not the candidate, I will vote for Jon Ossoff…that kind of action, that kind of campaign…will never get my vote,” Winter said on the air.
Mr. Dooley was mired in his own scandal, with accusations of paid politics dating back to his first days in the Governor’s Mansion, leading to his loss in the Republican runoff.
Collins was also endorsed by President Donald Trump in the days before the runoff, directing his Georgia MAGA base to support central Georgia legislators who opposed the election.
Winter interviews Ossoff, supports candidate on air
The day after the runoff, Mr. Ossoff spoke with Mr. Winter by phone to discuss the results and his strategy for the November general election.
“I think character matters. I think integrity matters. And in an age where these words are thrown around so casually, it’s no exaggeration to say that Congressman Mike Collins is a notorious bigot, a notorious anti-Semite, a notorious extremist, and on the wrong side of many issues,” Ossoff said. “He’s pro-war, pro-tariff, pro-health care cuts. And to be honest, he’s only a congressman because his father was a congressman.”
Ossoff pitched to voters, pledging to stop Georgia’s rural hospitals from closing, expand peanut farmers’ access to global markets, reform Georgia’s foster care system, stop the development of AI data centers and fight rising costs across the state.
Mr. Winter said he had not heard from any candidates about these issues during the campaign and pressed Mr. Ossoff to explain why his campaign focused on issues that may not impact Georgia voters.
“The honest answer is that this Republican primary runoff was all an audition for the president’s favor,” Ossoff said. He criticized the race as “Washington-centric” and unsubstantive.
By the end of the conversation, Winter kept his promise to support Ossoff against Collins, saying, “I agree with everything I’m hearing, everything you’re doing, everything you’ve done. We have some small disagreements on some small issues, but when it comes to the big things, I’m on your team.”
“The Shelley Winter Show is endorsing Sen. Jon Ossoff’s re-election,” he concluded.
You can watch the full 22-minute interview here.
In response to the endorsement, Ossoff’s campaign denounced it as a “major blow to Mike Collins’ efforts to unite the coalition,” but Ossoff followed suit shortly after the May primary by appearing at a campaign event alongside Democratic gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms. Mr. Collins and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson have not yet appeared together, and Mr. Trump endorsed Mr. Jackson’s opponent, Bert Jones.
Eileen Wright is an Atlanta Connect reporter for USA Today’s Deep South Connect team, covering midterm races in Georgia. X Find her at @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
