U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, the Republican Senate nominee challenging Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, repeatedly aligned himself with Trump. Collins pledged to support the president in Washington and cast the Senate race as a choice about Trump’s administration. “Jon Ossoff hates Trump more than he loves Georgia,” he told the crowd.

Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for governor, was more restrained. He did not name Trump in his opening remarks and, when invited back onstage, praised the president specifically for work on foster care. Jackson said Trump had done more than any president for abused and neglected children.

The contrast reflects Jackson’s competing electoral needs. He wants Trump loyalists to turn out against Democratic gubernatorial nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, while also trying to attract swing voters who helped Republican Gov. Brian Kemp win reelection in 2022. Jackson has increasingly emphasized his independence and his connection to Kemp, who did not attend Friday’s rally.

Democrats are seeking to make Jackson’s ties to Trump an issue. Bottoms released a campaign ad timed to the president’s visit that uses footage of Jackson praising Trump and asks which one Jackson would put first: Trump or Georgia. Democrats have also criticized the administration over costs, the war with Iran and policies they say have burdened residents.

Trump made his own role in the state’s contests clear. In a speech mixing praise for the Republican candidates with attacks on Democrats, he mocked Ossoff and recalled helping Republican Karen Handel defeat him in a 2017 special U.S. House election. Trump called Collins a future senator who would be among Washington’s most respected figures.

Collins is facing a difficult contest against Ossoff, who is described as holding a substantial polling and fundraising advantage. Collins is betting that close association with Trump can help close the gap. Jackson, a businessman who has described himself as a maverick, is trying to balance that appeal with a more independent image.

For Georgia Republicans, the calculation has a recent history. Trump’s ability to energize his supporters has made him a powerful draw, but his unpopularity among some independent voters has posed a challenge in a state where statewide elections have been closely contested. His return to Dalton also recalled a January 2021 rally, when he attacked Kemp and other state officials for refusing to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results. The day after that rally, Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue lost Senate runoffs to Democrats Raphael Warnock and Ossoff.

Several other Republican candidates joined Trump onstage Friday, including nominees for secretary of state and attorney general, along with lieutenant governor candidate Greg Dolezal. Their appearances offered a visible show of support for the president, even as Jackson and Collins made different choices about how prominently to tie their campaigns to him.