GOP Rep. Doug Collins announced a Senate bid. The Republican Party was not thrilled.

(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

last updated 29 January 2020

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) launched his Senate bid Wednesday, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee was far from pleased.

It's not a surprise that Collins, a staunch President Trump supporter, is entering the ring and forcing a standoff with the incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who was appointed to finish the term of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) after Isakson resigned last year for health reasons.

But the Republican Party doesn't want a race within its own ranks. Per Politico, a standoff in Georgia could jeopardize the Republican effort to hold the Senate majority, and the establishment is sticking with Loeffler. The NRSC released an angry statement in response to Collins' announcement, bluntly calling the congressman's decision-making shortsighted and selfish and accusing him of putting the party's greater prospects at risk. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.