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Houston, we’re headed to Washington? • Georgia Recorder [1]
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Date: 2025-08-04
It had only been roughly 72 hours since U.S. Rep. Mike Collins launched his run for U.S. Senate before we landed our first big candidate for his congressional seat.
State Rep. Houston Gaines, a Republican from Athens, announced Thursday that he’s running in what is likely to become a crowded primary for Collins’ District 10 congressional seat, which reaches across 18 counties from the eastern edges of metro Atlanta to the South Carolina state line.
“Being your State Representative for the last seven years has been the honor of a lifetime,” Gaines said in a note on social media announcing his congressional run. “Together, we’ve accomplished so much. But it’s time to take the fight to Washington, D.C. If we’re ever going to turn this country around, we need good, common sense people to run for Congress to help President Trump continue to deliver for the American people.”
Gaines’ candidacy is far from a surprise. A former student body president at the University of Georgia, the young legislator was always thought to have congressional aspirations but had declined to run in previous open races for this seat.
The then-23-year-old Gaines first arrived at the state Capitol in 2018 after defeating Democratic State Rep. Deborah Gonzalez in a competitive district that combined liberal Athens-Clarke County with a trio of Republican-friendly counties nearby. He has routinely won re-election by wide margins in the years since.
In the statehouse, Gaines wasted no time climbing the Republican ranks: He now serves as the vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee and also holds a caucus leadership role. As a Republican lawmaker from a left-leaning college town, Gaines has repeatedly butted heads with his hometown’s liberal city officials over immigration and law enforcement. He is also an important political ally and personal friend of Gov. Brian Kemp, whose Athens home lies in Gaines’ legislative district.
Gaines is hoping to cement his status as an early frontrunner, raising more than half a million dollars in his first 24 hours in the race. But other Republicans are likely to join the race soon.
Topping the list of potential candidates is Collins’ predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, who left Congress in 2022 to wage a Trump-backed bid for Secretary of State. And Paul Broun, another ex-congressman who ironically gave up his seat for an ill-fated Senate run, is said to be eyeing a return to Washington.
Two names you can’t expect to hear? State Sens. Brian Strickland of McDonough and Bill Cowsert of Athens, who are both running in the Republican primary for state attorney general and just so happen to be residents of GA-10.
On the Democratic side, 2024 nominee Lexy Doherty is running for the second time. But any Democrat will face long odds in a district where roughly three of every five voters backed President Donald Trump last year over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We need our government to work with us, not against us, to make a better life for us and our families,” Doherty told the AJC. “And all we’ve gotten this year from extremists like Collins is chaos and corruption while the ultrarich take tighter control of Washington.”
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