Conservative Georgia Radio Host Backs Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate
A conservative Georgia radio host has followed through on a public promise and is now supporting Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s closely watched Senate race.
Shelley Wynter, host of The Shelley Wynter Show on 95.5 WSB in Atlanta, endorsed Ossoff during a June 17 interview with the senator. The endorsement came one day after Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Collins defeated former college football coach Derek Dooley in the GOP Senate runoff.
Wynter had supported Dooley throughout the Republican primary season.
Wynter Says He Is “Team Ossoff”
After speaking with Ossoff on air, Wynter said he would support the senator for the rest of the summer and use his show to help push for Ossoff’s re-election.
Wynter said he views re-election campaigns like a job interview and argued that he had not seen anything from Ossoff that would justify removing him from office.
The endorsement marks a major ideological shift for Wynter, who describes himself as a Black conservative and has long been associated with conservative commentary in Georgia.
Senate Race Expected to Draw National Attention
Georgia’s Senate race is expected to be one of the most closely watched contests in the country.
President Donald Trump has strongly supported Collins, and control of Congress could depend in part on whether Republicans can flip Ossoff’s currently Democratic-held seat.
Why Wynter Turned Against Mike Collins
Wynter said his decision was driven by concerns about Mike Collins’ character and campaign conduct.
After Georgia’s Republican Senate primary in May, Collins and Dooley advanced as the top two candidates. Collins had led polling for weeks, while Dooley, backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, gained momentum late in the race.
During the runoff, Collins faced criticism from within his own party after one of his staffers made comments about a woman who had died by suicide. The staffer was later fired. Collins also repeatedly said he was proud of his staff and campaign.
The same staffer had previously been connected to a House Ethics investigation involving Collins, after Collins was accused of paying the staffer’s girlfriend despite no evidence that she performed work for his office.
Wynter Had Warned He Would Vote for Ossoff
At the end of May, Wynter criticized Collins on air, saying Collins had lost his moral center and describing his campaign conduct as unacceptable.
Wynter said if Dooley did not become the Republican nominee, he would vote for Ossoff instead. He said the style of campaigning he saw from Collins would never earn his support.
Dooley later lost the runoff after facing his own controversy involving allegations of pay-to-play politics connected to Kemp’s early years as governor.
Collins also received Trump’s endorsement just days before the runoff, helping consolidate support from Georgia’s MAGA voters.
Ossoff Criticizes Collins During Interview
During the June 17 interview, Ossoff said character and integrity matter in the race.
He sharply criticized Collins, calling him extreme and accusing him of holding positions that are wrong for Georgia. Ossoff said Collins supports war, tariffs and health care cuts, and added that Collins only became a congressman because his father had also served in Congress.
Ossoff Lays Out Campaign Priorities
Ossoff used the interview to highlight several issues he said he would focus on if re-elected.
He said he wants to prevent rural Georgia hospitals from closing, improve access to global markets for peanut farmers, reform the state’s foster care system, limit AI data center development and fight rising costs for Georgia residents.
Wynter said he had not heard candidates on the campaign trail discussing those issues and asked Ossoff why the race had focused on topics that may not directly affect Georgia voters.
Ossoff responded that the Republican runoff had largely become an attempt to win Trump’s approval rather than a campaign centered on Georgia issues.
Wynter Formally Endorses Ossoff
By the end of the 22-minute interview, Wynter said he was keeping his promise to support Ossoff against Collins.
He said he agreed with Ossoff on the major issues, despite having some smaller disagreements. Wynter then formally announced that The Shelley Wynter Show was endorsing Jon Ossoff for re-election.
Ossoff Campaign Calls Endorsement a Blow to Collins
Ossoff’s campaign described Wynter’s endorsement as a major setback for Collins’ effort to unite Republican and conservative voters.
The campaign also noted that Ossoff quickly appeared alongside Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms after the May primary, while Collins and Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson had not yet appeared together.
Trump had endorsed Jackson’s opponent, Burt Jones, in the gubernatorial race.
Shelley Wynter’s endorsement of Jon Ossoff adds a surprising twist to Georgia’s Senate race. After backing Derek Dooley in the Republican primary, Wynter said Mike Collins’ campaign conduct pushed him away from the GOP nominee. With Trump supporting Collins and Ossoff defending a Democratic-held seat, the race is expected to remain one of the most important Senate contests in the country.