Jon Ossoff

Thomas Jonathan Ossoff ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American politician who has served as the senior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. He is the youngest incumbent U.S. senator, and a member of the Democratic Party. Ossoff is also the youngest senior senator of the United States.

Previously, Ossoff worked as a national security staffer and legislative assistant for U.S. representative Hank Johnson. Afterward, he was managing director of an investigative documentary production company. He first ran for Congress in a 2017 special election, narrowly losing a seat that had long been considered a Republican stronghold.

Ossoff was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2021, defeating Republican incumbent David Perdue in a runoff. Ossoff was elected alongside Raphael Warnock on the same day, which was critical in securing a 50–50 Senate majority for Democrats, with vice president Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote. Ossoff is the youngest person elected to the Senate since 1980, the first senator born in the 1980s, and the first Millennial United States senator. Alongside Warnock, he is one of only two Democrats to represent Georgia in the United States Senate since Zell Miller left office in 2005.

Early life and education Ossoff was born on February 16, 1987, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was raised in Northlake, an unincorporated community northeast of Atlanta. Ossoff's mother, Heather Fenton, is an Australian immigrant who was born and raised in Sydney and immigrated to the United States at the age of 23. She worked as a management consultant and co-founded NewPower PAC, an organization that works to elect women to local office across Georgia. His father, Richard Ossoff, who is of Russian Jewish and Lithuanian Jewish descent, is an attorney who owns Strafford Publications, a specialist publishing company, and who was active in the 1980s fight against the Presidential Parkway planned for Atlanta. His mother is not Jewish and Ossoff did not formally convert to the religion until prior to his bar mitzvah. His paternal ancestors fled pogroms in the early twentieth century, and he noted in an interview that he grew up among Holocaust survivor relatives and detailed how this greatly influenced him and his worldviews. He previously held dual Australian citizenship through his mother. He earned a master of science degree in international political economy from the London School of Economics in 2013.

Early career After receiving a recommendation from John Lewis, Ossoff worked as a national security staffer and legislative assistant for foreign affairs and defense policy for U.S. representative Hank Johnson from 2007 to 2012. From 2013 to 2021, Ossoff was the managing director and chief executive officer of Insight: The World Investigates (TWI), a London-based investigative television production company that works with reporters to create documentaries about corruption in foreign countries.

2017 U.S. House campaign

Results of the 2017 special House election; Ossoff lost to Karen Handel 52 to 48 percent.

After learning that Republican Tom Price of Georgia's 6th congressional district had been appointed secretary of health and human services by president-elect Donald Trump, Ossoff announced his candidacy for the special election on January 5, 2017. He was endorsed by congressmen Hank Johnson and John Lewis, and by state House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams. He also received public support from U.S. senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Ossoff raised more than $8.3 million by early April of that year.

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Ossoff "transformed what was expected to be a quiet battle for a long-safe Republican seat into a proxy fight over Trump, the health care overhaul, and the partisan struggle for suburbia". the district was not considered competitive, and had been represented in Congress by Republicans since 1978. Less than two months before Ossoff's announcement, Price had been re-elected in a landslide, with 62 percent of the vote.

Ossoff grew up in what is now the 6th district, where his family still resides, although as of the election, he lived approximately outside the district's boundaries in the neighboring 4th district. He said he only lived in the 4th temporarily so that his girlfriend, now wife, who was then an Emory University medical student, could walk to work. Members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent. The two became engaged during the campaign.

On April 18, 2017, no candidate received 50 percent of the vote in the blanket primary. Ossoff led with about 48.1 percent of the vote, Republican candidate Karen Handel received 19.8 percent, while the remainder of votes were scattered for 16 other candidates. Ossoff won all but 1 percent of the Democratic vote, while the Republican vote was heavily split. Republicans collectively won 51.2 percent of the overall vote. Because no candidate secured an absolute majority, the two leading candidates, Ossoff and Handel, competed in a runoff election on June 20, 2017. In total, his campaign raised more than $23 million, two-thirds of which was contributed by small-dollar donors nationwide. Combined spending by the campaigns and outside groups on their behalf added up to more than $55 million, which was the most expensive House election in U.S. history. During the campaign, Republican strategy focused on connecting him to Democratic minority leader Nancy Pelosi, regarded as a polarizing and unpopular figure by Republicans; Ossoff declined to say whether he would, if elected, support Pelosi for Speaker.

In the June 20 runoff, Handel defeated Ossoff by 9,282 votes. According to Atlanta Magazine, "while his percentage of the total vote remained steady from April to now, Ossoff garnered 32,220 more votes in those three months, a 34 percent increase ... Ossoff and his allies might have scooped up nearly every Democrat vote there was to get—and it still wasn't enough to overcome the GOP's numerical advantage." The New York Times reported that he "produced probably the strongest Democratic turnout in an off-year election in at least a decade", "brought a surprising number of irregular young and nonwhite voters to the polls", and nearly doubled youth turnout in the 6th district from the 2014 midterm election. Following reports of the election results, Frank Bruni, in an op-ed for The New York Times, characterized the race as "demoralizing for Democrats". This was as close as a Democrat had come to winning this district since it assumed its current configuration as a northern suburban district in 1992; Democratic challengers had won more than 40 percent of the vote only twice before.

On February 23, 2018, Ossoff announced he would not seek the seat in the election in 2018; the seat was won by Democrat Lucy McBath in November 2018.

U.S. Senate

Elections

2020–2021 election

Ossoff speaks to supporters at a campaign rally on November 10, 2020. Ossoff ran in the Democratic primary election to unseat then-incumbent Republican senator David Perdue in the 2020 Senate election in Georgia. On June 10, Ossoff advanced to the general election by winning 53 percent of the vote. In July 2020, Perdue's campaign ran a Facebook advertisement in which Ossoff's nose was digitally altered to be larger, which Ossoff criticized as "one of the most classic anti-Semitic tropes". Perdue's campaign said that Perdue had not seen the image and that the widening and elongation of his nose was done by a

vendor. The Perdue campaign pulled the advertisement.

By October 2020, Ossoff raised more than $100 million for his campaign, making him the best-funded Senate candidate in U.S. history.

In the November 3 general election, Perdue received 2,462,617 votes (49.73%), while Ossoff received 2,374,519 votes (47.95%). Since no candidate received a majority of the vote on November 3, the top two finishers (Perdue and Ossoff) advanced to a January 5, 2021, runoff election.

The closing argument of the Ossoff campaign focused on the $2,000 stimulus payments that he and Raphael Warnock would approve if they were to win their elections and give Democrats a majority in the Senate.

Ossoff declared victory on the morning of January 6, 2021, and most major news outlets called the race for him later that day. While Perdue won more counties, Ossoff won overwhelmingly in the inner ring of the Atlanta metropolitan area. He won Cobb and Gwinnett counties, which have recently swung Democratic, by more than 40,200 and 74,200 votes, respectively. The latter exceeded his statewide margin of approximately 55,000 votes. He ran slightly behind Warnock, who defeated Kelly Loeffler by 70,400 votes by also running up his margins in the Atlanta area. Perdue conceded the election on January 8.

The vote was certified on January 19, which allowed the newly elected senators to take office the following day. On January 20, Ossoff was sworn into the Senate by the Vice President Kamala Harris.

When Ossoff took office, he became the first Jewish senator from Georgia and the first Jewish senator elected from the Deep South since Richard Stone of Florida in 1974, the first senator born in the 1980s, and, at 33, the youngest member of the chamber and the first millennial senator to be elected. He was sworn into office using the Bible of Jacob M. Rothschild, the deceased rabbi of the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple in Atlanta, which was bombed in 1958 by white supremacists for Rothschild's civil rights activism. Ossoff had his Bar Mitzvah at the Temple.

Ossoff is the first Democrat elected to a full term in the Senate from Georgia since Max Cleland in 1996. He and Warnock are the first Democratic U.S. senators from Georgia since Zell Miller left office in 2005. Ossoff assumed the role of senior U.S. senator from Georgia once he was sworn into office, making him the youngest senior senator since Robert M. La Follette Jr. and the most junior senior senator since Hiram Fong, who was 99th in seniority from Hawaii's admission until the end of the 86th Congress in 1961.

Ossoff's election alongside Raphael Warnock was critical in securing a 50–50 Senate majority for Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote.

2026 election

Ossoff is running for re-election, and will face U.S. representative Mike Collins in the general election.

Tenure Ossoff and fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at Emory University on March 19, 2021. Ossoff was sworn into the United States Senate in the 117th Congress by Vice President Kamala Harris on January 20, 2021, alongside newly elected fellow Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock and California Senator Alex Padilla.

On December 3, 2021, Ossoff petitioned Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona requesting Morris Brown College, a historically black college which Ossoff pledged to help during his campaign, regain their accreditation after having lost it in 2002 due to "years of financial issues and mismanagement". After Ossoff's petition, students were granted the ability to apply for federal financial aid by the Department of Education,

According to a FiveThirtyEight analysis, Ossoff's votes in the 117th Congress were in alignment with Joe Biden 97% of the time. He was a reliable supporter of Joe Biden’s legislative efforts during his presidency.

In January 2022, Ossoff introduced legislation that would ban members of Congress and their spouses from trading stocks.

In April 2026, Ossoff said he's not interested in running for president in 2028. After an opinion piece by journalist Michelle Goldberg in The New York Times positioning Ossoff for a 2028 run, Ossoff reiterated his position that he would not run in 2028 to Manu Raju on CNN.

Committee assignments 119th Congress

Committee on Appropriations Committee on Rules and Administration Select Committee on Intelligence

Current Committee on Rules and Administration

Previous Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (117th Congress) Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism Subcommittee on Human Rights (Chair) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Political positions According to The New Yorker in 2017, Ossoff has "progressive positions on women's issues and health care" and "moderate stances on jobs and security". Matthew Yglesias of Vox also characterized him as a moderate, and called his 2017 run for office an "Obama-style campaign." According to The Washington Post, the 2017 Ossoff campaign opted "not to turn the special election into a referendum on Trump's alleged scandals", but to focus on "policy decisions by the president and congressional Republicans". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that he "often tried to avoid nationalizing that campaign over fears of losing moderate voters". The New York Times observed that his 2017 campaign distanced itself from the national Democratic Party.

In 2020, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that Ossoff was "more unapologetic about embracing liberal policy ideas than his Democratic predecessors during past statewide races. And where he once hesitated to hit Trump directly, he now pulls no punches as he seeks to tie Perdue to his White House ally."

In 2023, the Lugar Center ranked Ossoff in the top third of senators for bipartisanship, placing at number 33. The Associated Press in 2025 wrote that "There's the Jon Ossoff who built his political career around criticizing Donald Trump. There's also the Ossoff who works with Republicans, advancing the interests of Georgia's farmers and military bases."

Abortion Ossoff supports abortion rights. He pledged to support only those judges who would uphold Roe v. Wade, and he also supports Planned Parenthood. In response to the June 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, Ossoff stated that the U.S. Supreme Court "stripped American women of autonomy over their most personal health care decisions."

Cannabis legalization On the issue of cannabis legalization, Ossoff says "It's past time to legalize, regulate, and tax cannabis – whose prohibition only enriches cartels, bail bondsmen, and the owners of private prisons." Ossoff says that as a member of the Senate he will push for "nationwide legalization" of cannabis, stating that it "is much less dangerous than alcohol."

Criminal justice In 2020, Ossoff opposed prison sentencing for nonviolent drug offenses. His 2017 website said, "Violent crime, murder, rape, human trafficking, and corruption are rampant, while we spend billions locking up nonviolent drug offenders."

In 2020, Ossoff opposed defunding the police and abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Ossoff voted for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Environment He accepts the scientific consensus on climate change, and has said that "climate change is a threat to our security and prosperity". He supports U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement.

In 2022, Ossoff blocked a proposed titanium mine in the Okefenokee Swamp after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned of severe potential damage to the wildlife refuge. The mine was proposed by Twin Pines Minerals LLC in 2018.

Foreign policy Ossoff and U.S. Senator Chris Murphy meet with Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias on September 6, 2021.

Afghanistan

Ossoff resisted criticizing President Joe Biden for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, as other Democratic politicians had at the time, instead stating he was focused on "supporting the State Department and the Department of Defense as they work with limited time to expedite the evacuation" of stranded Americans and American-allied Afghans. Ossoff condemned the subsequent airport attack in Kabul, which killed 13 American military personnel, stating: "I condemn this cowardly and despicable terrorist attack."

China Ossoff was part of a bipartisan visit to China led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in October 2023, where they met with General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping in Beijing. The delegation also met Director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji, and Party Secretary of Shanghai Chen Jining.

Israel In 2020, Ossoff said he is committed to "the security of Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people" and to strengthening the U.S.–Israel alliance.

Ossoff led a group of 25 Democratic senators who called for an immediate ceasefire in a joint statement during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. The statement said: "Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas' rocket attacks, in a manner proportionate with the threat its citizens are facing."

On November 20, 2024, Ossoff was among 19 senators who supported resolutions proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders which would have blocked U.S. military aid to Israel amidst the Gaza war. The resolutions failed to pass but were designed to show Democratic opposition to President Biden's and the United States' support for Israel in the Gaza war.

In April 2025, Ossoff voted against a pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders to withhold billions of dollars in offensive weapons sales and other military aid to Israel.

In July 2025, Ossoff voted to prohibit a sale of 20,000 fully automatic rifles to Israel.

Iran Ossoff has criticized the 2026 Iran war. He said the war caused "skyrocketing inflation" and "massive damage to our reputation."

Government reform Ossoff has called for the repeal of "wasteful, anti-competitive special interest subsidies that make it hard for entrepreneurs to raise capital, enter the market, create jobs, and compete with larger firms who have lobbyists in Washington."

Ossoff supports statehood for the District of Columbia and for Puerto Rico.

Ending stock trading by members of Congress was a theme of Ossoff's 2020 campaign. He does not support pushing for a single-payer health care system, such as Medicare for All. He said that the May 2017 version was worse than the earlier one "because it does even less to protect those with pre-existing conditions."

Ossoff told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he supported tax credits for small businesses related to health care.

In 2026, Ossoff declared support for "a strong Public Option that’s comprehensive & affordable for all and insist that people who prefer private insurance can always keep it."

Immigration Ossoff supports comprehensive immigration reform that would both strengthen enforcement along the Mexican border and provide a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants. In 2025, Ossoff was one of 12 Democratic senators who joined all Republicans in voting for the Laken Riley Act.

LGBTQ rights Ossoff describes his support for the LGBTQ community as "unwavering". He also supports the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

First Trump administration Ossoff has been sharply critical of President Donald Trump, criticizing what he calls Trump's "divisive approach to government" and saying: "I have great respect for the office. I don't have great personal admiration for the man himself." After Trump sent out a tweet the day before Ossoff's primary on April 19, 2017, calling him a "super Liberal Democrat" who wanted to "protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes", Ossoff dismissed Trump's claims and called him "misinformed". FactCheck.org found that Trump's claim was a distortion, and that there was no evidence that Ossoff had ever advocated for any broad-based tax hikes. He called for "a full and transparent and independent assessment of what level of interference there was by Russian intelligence services in the U.S. election. And overseers in Congress and any independent counsel or commission to do so should follow those facts wherever they lead."

Voting rights Ossoff supports passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

Following passage of Georgia's Election Integrity Act of 2021, signed into law by Republican governor Brian Kemp and passed by the Republican-led state legislature, several businesses, from the Major League Baseball organization to the production of the Will Smith film Emancipation, boycotted the state in protest. In an interview with CNN, Ossoff expressed his displeasure with the bill, while also saying he didn't support the corporate boycotts, stating Georgians "rely upon and hope for and welcome jobs, investment and opportunity."

Public image Ossoff has been described as able to effectively appeal to young people by using TikTok, a social media app popular with Generation Z. On the night he was elected to the Senate, Ossoff's posts on Twitter from the previous decade, which included several references to Star Wars, the musical group Imagine Dragons, and anime, attracted renewed attention on social media. He is described as the "first Extremely Online senator".

In January 2021, Vogue reported on an "adoring" Instagram account of self-declared "simps" expressing affection toward Senator Ossoff. After Ossoff's election, in July 2021, The Daily Beast reported on an "Ossimp Patrol" on Twitter that monitors "Ossoff simps" on the platform, and replies to their tweets with an ActBlue link prompting to donate to Senator Raphael Warnock's 2022 reelection campaign, and get out the vote organizations in Georgia and Texas. When shown this by The Daily Beast, Ossoff is said to have "paused for a moment" and "furrowed his brow" before saying he wasn't aware of any of this, but did commend the "great community" he had that supported him during his 2020–2021 Senate campaign. Ossoff married Kramer in 2017 after 12 years of dating. On the night of Ossoff's election to the United States Senate in January 2021, Kramer was working an overnight shift in Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. They have two daughters, born in December 2021 and June 2025.

Electoral history U.S. House

U.S. Senate

Filmography