Jon Ossoff

Georgia is in the middle of a tight and highly contested midterm election season, with two major races at the top of the ticket. And President Trump is watching closely.

Political outsider Rick Jackson is taking on former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the race for governor after the Trump-endorsed candidate, Burt Jones, lost the Republican runoff. Jackson still aligned himself with the president, and Donald Trump Jr. sang the business owner's praises in the days before he clinched the runoff.

But the White House is likely more interested in the race for Senate.

Incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff is running against MAGA-backed, election denier Rep. Mike Collins for Georgia's second senate seat. The other seat is held by Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is not up for reelection this cycle.

The race could ultimately decide control of the Senate, and Georgia has been at the center of Trump's renewed push of the 2020 election fraud conspiracy as Warnock accused the president of laying a "pretext to interfere" in the results of November's midterms.

Trump to address the nation Thursday

In a post on Truth Social Monday, Trump said he will be "making a Speech to the Nation" on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET. Trump did not disclose what the speech would be about in his post.

However, many have speculated the address will reignite election fraud claims.

Ossoff says Trump has Georgia election "obsession"

Throughout his election campaign, Ossoff has accused Trump of peddling an election lie, one that has been echoed by his opponent, Collins, during his campaign. As recently as June, Collins stated he believed Trump won the 2020 election in an interview with CNN.

In response to reporting from MS Now and the Washington Reporter that Trump's speech could be about election fraud and target Georgia's two Senate seats, Ossoff said this renewed "obsession" with Georgia elections stems from Trump's anger toward Black voters who turned against him.

"Donald Trump's spiral continues. The failed president, pocketing billions as he drives up prices, is afraid to lose the midterms. So he will reheat debunked election conspiracy theories and tell bizarre new lies to deny his 2020 defeat and attack voting rights," Ossoff said in a statement late Monday.

He also said it would be a "disaster" for Collins who will be forced to "double down" on conspiracies that have not been well accepted in general elections.

"From the start, Trump's obsession with Georgia elections revealed his fury that Black voters were instrumental to his defeat," Ossoff said. "I'm asking concerned citizens nationwide to join me and support our voter protection efforts in Georgia."

FBI investigation in Fulton County is ongoing

In a recent blow to the Trump Administration's investigations into voter eligibility in Georgia, a judge recently ruled a Department of Justice subpoena requesting extensive personal information about poll workers and volunteers in Fulton County was a "staggering" overreach.

Fulton County officials argued in a May 4 motion the subpoena would apply to thousands of employees and volunteers who worked around the 2020 election, as Fulton County is the most populous in the state of Georgia and encompasses a large section of metro Atlanta.

Judge Ray wrote the DOJ is "unquestionably under the current President's control," and therefore was using the subpoena power of a Grand Jury to overstep. He argues the statute of limitations has long passed for the DOJ to bring a case in Fulton County, and the scope of the subpoena is too large given it asks for information from the months and years after the election.

Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided an election hub in Fulton County at the beginning of the year, seizing hundreds of boxes of ballots and tally sheets from election workers. County officials have sought legal avenues for having the materials returned, which are in various stages within the courts.

The FBI has also been ordered to swarm the Fulton County investigation, with as many as 260 analysts combing through the raid materials with a July 17 deadline. It's unclear what will happen once that deadline passes.

Irene Wright covers Georgia politics and elections as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA TODAY’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at [email protected].