EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senate Hopeful Torches Vulnerable Dem Opponent For Keeping Government Closed
Georgia Republican Rep. Buddy Carter’s Senate campaign released a new ad Friday blasting Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff for repeatedly voting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to shut down the government, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.
Carter’s ad accuses Ossoff of being responsible for an estimated 1.3 million active-duty military personnel who will likely miss their next paycheck due to the shutdown and accuses him of supporting taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants. Although Ossoff is the most vulnerable Democratic senator facing re-election in 2026, he has voted seven times against a bipartisan spending bill that would restore government funding. (RELATED: Democrats stick with Schumer after he claims ‘every day gets better’ during shutdown)
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The 30-second spot is part of a seven-figure statewide ad buy that will run across broadcast, cable, streaming and direct mail platforms.
Carter joined nearly all House Republicans in supporting a net expansion of government funding levels in September to avoid a shutdown.
Three members of the Senate Democratic caucus crossed party lines to support the House-passed measure, but Ossoff has not yet joined them. The government shutdown would end if just five more Democrats vote for the bipartisan spending bill that would temporarily fund the government.
With no end in sight to the funding shortfall, America’s military may not receive their next paycheck on October 15.
“Instead of paying our soldiers, ‘shutdown’ Jon voted five times to shut down the entire government,” the ad’s narrator explains. “Our troops didn’t get any because Jon Ossoff likes illegals more than we do.”
“Don’t let ‘Shutdown Jon’ sacrifice your values again,” the ad’s narrator continues.
A spokesperson for Ossoff did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Ossoff supports Democrats’ counterfunding measure that would allow about $1.5 trillion in new spending to temporarily fund the government. Republicans have argued that the health care provisions in the law would allow noncitizens and some illegal immigrants to receive taxpayer-funded benefits.
The ad also includes positive messages about Carter, who often refers to himself as a “MAGA warrior.” He sent a letter to the Justice Department on Thursday calling for an investigation into organizations funded by left-wing megadonor George Soros for their potential involvement in “politically motivated violence,” DCNF first reported.
Carter is one of three Republican candidates vying to challenge Ossoff in the general election. Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins and former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley are also vying for the GOP nomination.
Recent polls show a relatively open race, but Collins is leading the primary field so far.
Although Republicans view Ossoff’s seat as a prime opportunity to win, the Georgia Democrat is building a massive war chest to defeat a GOP challenger. The outgoing senator raised $12 million between July and September and enters the fourth fundraising quarter of the year with $21 million in the bank.
