Jon Ossoff

Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia is widely regarded as the most vulnerable Democratic senator in the November midterm elections. But on the eve of the primary, there is a creeping anxiety in Republican circles that their party is poorly positioned to challenge him.

Eighteen months after President Trump won Georgia by about two percentage points, Republicans in the state worry about national political headwinds, an extended G.O.P. primary fight, and Mr. Ossoff’s popularity, interviews show. Ben Burnett, a Republican commentator in Georgia, said he could not detect a winning argument among any of the candidates.

“The three Republicans in the U.S. Senate race are all competing,” he said, “to see who is going to be the sacrificial lamb in November.”

Running to challenge Mr. Ossoff are two Trump-aligned Republican congressmen, Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and the former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley. Each would most likely enter the general election in a fund-raising hole. Each suggest their opponents are not up to task of taking on Mr. Ossoff. None have won a statewide race.

Still, some Republican and Democratic strategists predict Georgia will host one of the hardest-fought Senate races in November, and that a flood of funding will meet with the winner of the Republican primary. Democrats need to gain at least four seats to win the Senate majority, a once far-fetched goal that has looked more realistic in recent months amid growing voter anger with Mr. Trump. Mr. Ossoff’s seat is one of a handful at the center of the fight for control of the chamber.

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