Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) announced on May 8, 2025, that he will run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2026 rather than another term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As of May 6, 2025, independent race forecasters The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball have rated the general election for the seat as Toss-up. Inside Elections rated it Battleground Democratic. According to The Hill’s Jared Gans, since President Donald Trump (R) won the state in the 2024 presidential election, incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) “will be a top target for the GOP in next year’s midterms.”

In announcing his campaign, Carter wrote on X, “Georgians will have a very simple choice in 2026: do you want a MAGA warrior for you or do you want a trans warrior for they/them? I’m with you. You can guess where Jon Ossoff is.”

In 2014, Carter ran for his first term in the House in Georgia’s 1st Congressional District, after then-Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) announced he was running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia rather than another term in the House. Carter defeated Brian Reese (D) 61% to 39% in the general election.

In Carter’s four re-election bids where he ran with major party opposition he won by 16 percentage points in 2018, 16 percentage points in 2020, 18 percentage points in 2022, and 24 percentage points in 2024. Carter ran without major opposition in 2016.

As of May 6, 2025, The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections have rated the 2026 general election for the district as Solid Republican. Sabato’s Crystal Ball rated it Safe Republican.

As of May 12, 2025, 18 members of the U.S. Congress—five senators and 13 representatives—have announced they will not seek re-election to their current seats in 2026.

Of the 13 representatives—seven Democrats and six Republicans—not seeking re-election:

• Two Democrats are retiring from public office.
• Seven—five Democrats and two Republicans—are running for the U.S. Senate.
• Four—all Republicans—are running for governor.

Compared to the last four election cycles, there were 10 retirement announcements at this point in 2024, 12 in 2022, five in 2020, and eight in 2018.

From January 2011 to now, Ballotpedia followed 365 announcements from Senate and House members who announced they would not seek re-election. January had seen the highest number of announcements of any month at 69. The fewest announcements—12—happened in June.