Georgia voters set early-voting record as midterm elections heat up

Over 180,000 Georgians cast their ballots on the first day of early voting on Tuesday, setting a record for midterm elections.

Tuesday’s total eclipsed the first day of early voting in 2022 by more than 55,000 votes, state election officials say. Georgia’s early voting schedule runs through Oct. 30.

“This record-breaking turnout proves that voters have confidence in the integrity of our elections,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement. “It’s a testament to our strong election system overseen by 159 of the best county election officials in the country.”

Georgia’s contentious U.S. Senate race erupted into a heated confrontation Tuesday night as Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., accused GOP challenger Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., of allowing the dissemination of “neo-Nazi propaganda” inside his own home, prompting Collins to fire back over Ossoff’s financial support from a billionaire with ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

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The exchange unfolded during the candidates’ second and final debate ahead of the Nov. 3 general election, which was hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and broadcast by Georgia Public Broadcasting network.

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During the debate, Ossoff sought to tie his GOP opponent to White nationalism and repeatedly demanded that Collins commit to stopping the dissemination of hateful rhetoric involving his campaign staff, in particular Collins’ son-in-law, which Ossoff alleged had continued despite blowback.

“How weak a person do you have to be to be unable to stop someone under your own roof from disseminating neo-Nazi propaganda while you run for the Senate?” Ossoff asked, referencing reporting about his opponent’s son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, who was the subject of a CNN investigation about sharing Nazi propaganda imagery, promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories and polling his online followers about whether he should produce a video titled, “Why Gen-Z Doesn’t Hate Hitler.”

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Meanwhile, Collins accused his Democrat opponent of fueling threats against his family and refusing to return campaign support connected to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. He also questioned Ossoff over his support for candidates linked to controversial streamer Hasan Piker.

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“I’m a little tired of this, Jon,” Collins said. “There’s a crazy person in jail right now because of your rhetoric,” he alleged, before saying he had received another threat just the previous day.

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“You have not denounced, you’ve not condemned Reid Hoffman, one of your largest donors out there, one that’s been supporting you with over $1 million,” Collins shot back. “Why don’t you denounce that? Why don’t you return that money?”

Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.