Vulnerable Senate Democrat Ossoff seeks to channel Trump outrage on tough road to reelection

Jon Ossoff, the nation’s most endangered Senate Democrat, sees a path for reelection in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024 and at a time when Democrats are suffering rock-bottom approval ratings.

Jon Ossoff, the nation’s most endangered Senate Democrat, sees a path for reelection in a state President Donald Trump won in 2024 and at a time when Democrats are suffering rock-bottom approval ratings. He plans to go all out against Trump. “I have never seen opposition energy like this — from dyed-in-the-wool Democrats to moderate Republicans,” Ossoff told CNN before making a rather bold prediction at a time when his party is still reeling from the fall elections. “The energy and opposition, I believe, is building toward a landslide victory in 2026,” the Georgia Democrat said. “A landslide victory for Democrats across the country.” Vulnerable senators in purple states often shift to the center ahead of reelection, seeking to spotlight how they work with the president of the opposite party as they court moderate and swing voters. But Ossoff is making a starkly different and potentially riskier calculation: That swing voters will be alienated by Trump’s dramatic push to expand his power, target his foes and dismantle the federal government — and that the 2026 elections will ultimately be determined by the party that can bring out its base. His thinking offers a fresh window into how a swing-state Democrat will try to navigate the politics of Trump in next year’s midterms.