{"id":868251,"date":"2026-10-02T12:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868251\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T12:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T12:48:09","slug":"how-jon-ossoff-and-susan-collins-are-turning-a-mundane-part-of-their-jobs-into-a-reelection-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868251\/","title":{"rendered":"How Jon Ossoff and Susan Collins are turning a mundane part of their jobs into a reelection pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATHENS, Ga. \u2013 After Hurricane Helene<\/a> barreled through Georgia in the fall of 2024, Sen. Jon Ossoff<\/a> was the first high-ranking official on the ground in Valdosta, where he took in the damage and promised locals he’d help them get the federal recovery assistance they needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust about every week, I dial up Georgia mayors and pastors and farmers to find out how I can help,\u201d Ossoff said at a recent campaign rally for his reelection bid against Republican Rep. Mike Collins.<\/p>\n

Up the Eastern Seaboard, Maine Sen. Susan Collins<\/a> keeps a regular itinerary of local events, including ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings for projects she helped finance as Senate Appropriations Committee chair. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not a community in Maine that can\u2019t say Susan helped us,\u201d intones the voiceover in a campaign ad for Collins. The five-term senator, who’s not related to the Georgia congressman, is facing Democratic former state legislative leader Troy Jackson in November. <\/p>\n

The two senators \u2014 Ossoff the Democrat, Collins the Republican \u2014 began this election cycle widely viewed as their respective parties\u2019 most vulnerable members. But as Republican Donald Trump’s second presidency and partisan fights on Capitol Hill dominate national political conversation, the senators’ campaigns have played out differently than expected in part because of the more mundane part of their jobs: helping the people back home. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe in the political world tend to think about the strength of incumbency through the lens of fundraising and national media attention, and those do matter,\u201d said Republican Chris Hartline, once a top adviser at the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee. \u201cBut the ability to help the local communities you actually represent still matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ossoff, it means attracting endorsements from Republican officials, including Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson, that have made it harder for Mike Collins to land attacks<\/a> claiming that the liberal first-term senator from Atlanta doesn\u2019t represent Georgia. For Susan Collins, it means a go-to buffer argument as she runs with the weight of Trump\u2019s lagging popularity<\/a> and her support for various parts of his agenda.<\/p>\n

A month from Election Day, Ossoff has gone from a top GOP target to a widely perceived favorite to defend a seat that Democrats cannot afford to lose as they try to regain a Senate majority. And as Republican incumbents like Ohio Sen. Jon Husted are increasingly viewed as underdogs, strategists in both parties still view Susan Collins\u2019 race as a tossup. <\/p>\n

Ossoff draws begrudging respect from Republicans<\/p>\n

Ossoff and his aides say the senator tries to deliver on every aspect of what Washington calls \u201cconstituent services.\u201d <\/p>\n

That could mean federal appropriations, disaster assistance or nuts-and-bolts matters like assisting a voter who is seeking Social Security disability benefits or a missing Social Security check. It includes surprise notes of congratulations or condolences to constituents \u2014 something Ossoff sends even to aides of Republican elected officials. <\/p>\n

Endorsing Ossoff earlier this year, Matheson, the Valdosta mayor, described himself as a lifelong conservative. But he praised Ossoff for his Helene response. The senator recalled \u201cgoing block by block\u201d with the mayor and serving \u201chot meals to folks who had just lost their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ossoff points to money secured for a dialysis center in nearby Tifton, Georgia. Mayor Julie Smith, another Republican, has endorsed Ossoff, too, explaining that \u201che\u2019s been very good for south Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courtney Eskew, whose husband, Joshua, was injured during an Army tour in Afghanistan, pointed to Ossoff\u2019s work for veterans\u2019 care. The couple both grew up in Republican households but said they were volunteering for Ossoff\u2019s campaign. <\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Ossoff has been passionately vocal about VA funding, and any time we\u2019ve needed to call to advocate or to ask a question about benefits, his office has done everything we needed,\u201d Eskew said after the couple attended an Ossoff event. <\/p>\n

Eskew said it\u2019s a powerful counter to opponent Mike Collins\u2019 attacks that Ossoff is too liberal for the historically conservative state. <\/p>\n

Ossoff \u201cdoesn\u2019t vote the way I want him to vote\u201d on contentious issues, added Chan Jones, who chairs the Georgia Republican Party\u2019s 8th Congressional District committee. \u201cBut as far as the office and the way they\u2019ve carried themselves and handled other aspects of the job, I can\u2019t knock that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones has his own example as a member of the Bleckley County Recreation Board. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were having some trouble with a federal grant,\u201d he said, adding that one call to the senator\u2019s office fixed the issue. <\/p>\n

Mainers must decide the value of seniority<\/p>\n

Susan Collins is relentless in promoting money she\u2019s steered to Maine \u2014 for community colleges and hospital expansions or hyperlocal examples like a program to control the spruce budworm, a threat to the state\u2019s forests and timber industry. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat will go away with a freshman senator,\u201d she said at a Maine manufacturing conference earlier this year. \u201cIt took me years to climb the ladder of seniority.\u201d<\/p>\n

No project is too small for her argument. In late August, she attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the rehabilitation of St. Croix Apartments in Calais, a city of about 3,000 residents on the Canadian border, more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Portland. It\u2019s in a conservative part of the state where GOP candidates need heavy turnout to win statewide. <\/p>\n

Collins was there to highlight $3 million she secured to restore 26 affordable housing units for low-income seniors. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe renovated St. Croix Apartments will provide seniors with safe and affordable homes close to the family, friends and community they love,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

The amount is a pittance within appropriations bills measured in the billions. But it\u2019s the kind of work many Maine residents associate with the veteran lawmaker. <\/p>\n

In the same campaign stretch, Collins visited a child development center in Bangor to highlight Head Start funding<\/a>. In the summer, she walked in the Casco Days Grand Parade to raise money for the local fire association and stopped by the dedication of a new fire station in the town of Sweden, population 400. <\/p>\n

At the same time, Collins has maintained a stretch in Washington of more than 10,000 consecutive votes \u2014 a streak she connects to those results back home. <\/p>\n

Collins and Ossoff are following an old script<\/p>\n

There are recent examples of candidates succeeding by doing what Collins and Ossoff are trying. <\/p>\n

The late Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, another powerful committee chairman, withstood a fierce Republican primary challenge to win his final election in 2014 by coaxing Democratic crossover voters in part because of his decades of appropriating money.<\/p>\n

Hartline, who worked for Senate Republicans in 2022, pointed to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson as a bright spot in an otherwise tough cycle for the party. <\/p>\n

\u201cJohnson knew every corner of Wisconsin because he\u2019d been there,\u201d Hartline said. <\/p>\n

Collins, especially, needs that dynamic to outweigh national circumstances.<\/p>\n

Democrats, Jackson included, have hammered her for not having done enough to shield Maine from Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/a> \u2014 which she has criticized \u2014 and for backing the Iran war, which has raised fuel prices<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But even Jackson supporters recognize Collins\u2019 ability to win five elections when Maine has opted for Democrats in every presidential contest. <\/p>\n

Warsame Dualeh, a 45-year-old Jackson supporter, mused about weak opponents \u2014 though Collins has drawn aggressive Democratic opposition over the years. And then he acknowledged that the federal money pipeline \u201cvery well could be\u201d the reason for Collins\u2019 durability.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATHENS, Ga. \u2013 After Hurricane Helene barreled through Georgia in the fall of 2024, Sen. Jon Ossoff was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,366183,366185,12,1070,451,68941,21484,66338,21496,3,111,29952,366186,12800,366184,452,453,321102,795,800],"class_list":["post-868251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-chris-hartline","tag-courtney-eskew","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-headlines","tag-jon-husted","tag-jon-ossoff","tag-julie-smith","tag-mike-collins","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-ronald-johnson","tag-scott-james-patterson","tag-susan-collins","tag-thad-cochran","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-troy-jackson","tag-u-s-news","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}