On the evening of November 3, 2026, in Atlanta, Democrat Jon Ossoff celebrated his reelection to the United States Senate representing Georgia, winning by almost eighteen points over the Republican Mike Collins, backed by Donald Trump. That same night, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms secured the office of governor of the state.
Even before mentioning his reelection in Georgia, Ossoff hailed the victory of the “American people” over Trump and the “survival of our republic,” then offered a diagnosis of Americans’ everyday lives and sketched a view of the world. Invoking “this great national spirit that defeated fascism, created Social Security, sent men to the Moon and saw civil rights laws enacted,” he implicitly placed himself in the lineage of Roosevelt, Kennedy, and Johnson, presenting himself as a presidential contender.
Good evening, Atlanta! Thank you, Georgia. Georgia, you did it! And allow me to be the first to publicly extend my congratulations to the governor-elect of the State of Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms.
To every volunteer who poured their heart and soul into this campaign, and to all who opened their wallets so we could stand up to the dark-money super PACs: thank you.
To Charlie Bailey and his team, who helped make the Georgia Democratic Party the strongest it has been in a generation: thank you.
To my team, to Ellen, Keenan, Rey, Miryam, Chandra and the best political team in America: thank you.
To my wonderful wife Alisha and to my daughters Eva and Lila, to my parents and to my entire family: thank you for your love and your unwavering support.
And to the people of the great state of Georgia, for the trust you have placed in me by letting me continue to represent you in the United States Senate: thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now, Georgia.
Thank you.
[THE CROWD: “I LOVE YOU”]
I love you too. I love you too.
Listen!
Through broad and decisive victories, the American people have repudiated the depravity, corruption, and incompetence of President Donald J. Trump, the “lame duck.” And if, at times over the past two years, amid the relentless onslaught of brutality and indecency, you doubted the survival of our republic, let tonight’s results restore your courage: the first light of dawn is beginning to appear on the horizon.
But remember that in drawing rooms, gardens, and at rallies across Georgia over these last two years, we have said together that our task is not merely to contain the malevolence of a president, but to heal the deeper fracture that underpins it.
That this moment is a doorway, not to restoration, but to profound reform. And so, amid tonight’s celebrations, we must recognize that the underlying crisis gripping our republic remains, and that, therefore, our most essential work is still ahead.
For while the rich and those favored by lobbyists gorge themselves on insider information and official favors, the forgotten families of America are treated with systematic contempt by corporations and official indifference; they work harder as the treadmill speeds up and tilts further and further, and bills rise higher and higher.
Instead of reading your daughter her favorite book during this precious hour of freedom after work, you’re on the phone begging your insurer to cover the medication that stops her epileptic seizures. You report black mold to your landlord, who does nothing to fix the leak, and the ambulance called for your child’s asthma attack is followed by a $3,000 bill.
For too many people, homeownership remains an unattainable dream. Family farms are on the brink of ruin, and while healthcare has never been more expensive, plastics invade our bodies, our blood, and breast milk. Toxic “forever chemicals” are contaminating the drinking water of half the country, and polluters have been granted new permits to poison our air.
Abroad, American credibility and leadership are waning, and the world is rearming for a potential global conflict. And, at our peril, humanity is rapidly forgetting the terrible lessons of the two world wars and the Holocaust.
Meanwhile, the titans of Silicon Valley are digging bunkers and warning that the artificial intelligence they are creating poses an existential risk to humanity. And in facing these challenges of unprecedented scale and complexity, even as we rightly celebrate tonight’s historic victory, the truth is that we have for far too long been mired in petty, selfish politics—purchased by the fortunes, detached from any strong moral principle, and resigned to insurmountable divisions.
In other words, the United States is drifting in a storm. But Georgia, we can take back control of our destiny, and we will.
This evening, we delivered a necessary and decisive blow in favor of justice and progress. And tonight, in Georgia, we have shown not only that unity is possible, but that we can surmount division without yielding on our objectives.
In every corner of Georgia, this campaign argued for banning corporate money and dark money from politics, for American leadership dedicated to peace and human rights around the world, and for guaranteeing health care for every American, without exception.
We pledged to continue the work of reigning in Big Pharma, the major insurers, and the tech giants to safeguard Georgia’s struggling families; and on that foundation, we built a new majority that extends well beyond partisan divides. The cornerstone of this new majority is trust: trust earned through years of calls to mayors, pastors, and farmers, a trust measured by problems solved together, regardless of ideology or party affiliation.
I thank the Republican mayors Matheson, Smith, and Fry of Valdosta, Tifton, and Toccoa, as well as the countless other Republican leaders who joined our team. And I thank the hundreds of thousands of independent and Republican voters who joined our victorious coalition. Never doubt that unity is possible.
Even in his final months, Representative John Lewis reminded us that we all live in one house: the American house. Do you remember? In one house on Earth. He called this the inescapable truth that we are all members of one human family.
And I know that many of you poured yourselves into this campaign not for me or for the Democratic Party, but because you are deeply moved by the suffering our fellow human beings endure right now: the terror of a child watching ICE take away her mother, the despair of a cancer patient losing coverage in the middle of treatment. But that pain in your heart, that knot in your stomach, that feeling, is what reminds us that we are all in the same boat, that we are not just the United States, but a single people. E pluribus unum. Out of many, one. And across the centuries, despite our sins and through courageous struggles, the flame of American liberty has burned brighter and bolder, giving hope to the world.
We stumbled. We nearly went astray. But, Georgia, despite all our difficulties, I assure you tonight: buoyed by this historic and undeniable victory, we will overcome them, I have no doubt. And our task now is to awaken that great national spirit that defeated fascism and created Social Security, that sent men to the Moon and saw civil rights laws enacted, so that we can meet the challenges and assume the duties of our time. For I refuse to let my two young daughters grow up in a world as dark, dangerous, and cruel as the world threatens to become.
I refuse to let Eva and Lila grow up with AI as friends and teachers, in a society where the sick die not because there is no cure, but because they cannot afford it. Where we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world a thousand times, yet refuse to guarantee health care to every citizen. On a poisoned planet, rearming for a world war, where human life is worth little and force trumps right.
You see, when Eva is old enough to ask why I let this happen, I want to be able to tell her honestly that I did not stand idly by. I will recount how, in the very year she turns five, Georgia overcame doubt and dirty tricks not merely to win, but to chart a new path for our state, our country, and our world.
That we defended voting rights and civil rights at home. That we restored American leadership in the pursuit of peace and human rights across the world. That we finally acted to ban corporate money and dark money from our political life, and that we secured health care for every American, without exception.
Thank you, Georgia. Tonight we celebrate this victory, and tomorrow we get back to work. Thank you very much. Thank you, Georgia. Thank you. Thank you.