Former University of Tennessee head football coach Derek Dooley didn’t vote in multiple presidential elections, never donated to President Donald Trump, and declined to register as a Republican in several states, a record now drawing scrutiny as he eyes a Senate run in swing state Georgia.

Though he has the backing of Gov. Brian Kemp, Dooley has consistently opted not to support Trump at the ballot box or through financial contributions. Voter records show he didn’t cast a ballot in any Texas election in 2016 while living and working there, and similarly sat out New York elections in 2020, according to that state’s Board of Elections.

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Dooley declined to register as a Republican, even as his wife did so in multiple states, according to public records. In 2005, he registered with no party affiliation in Florida while his wife registered as a Republican. The same pattern occurred in 2020 when they registered in New York. Georgia, where Dooley now resides, does not require voters to declare a party affiliation.

As of July 2025, federal campaign finance records show Dooley has never donated to Trump or any affiliated group. His only reported political contribution: $5,500 to Kemp’s campaign.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) currently holds the seat, having flipped it in 2021 and helped deliver Democrats the Senate majority. With Republicans now in control and looking to expand their edge in 2026, Georgia is seen as a top pickup opportunity. 

Dooley’s team has dismissed the criticism, framing it as evidence that political insiders feel threatened by an outsider.

“The amount of fear and desperation coming from career politicians about an outsider who hasn’t even announced yet should tell Georgia voters all they need to know,” said Dooley spokesperson Connor Whitney in a statement to the Washington Examiner.

“Like most Georgians, Derek built a life around his family, a job he loved, and helping young people succeed, not politics. These lame attacks are predictable and laughable.”

An adviser to Dooley said the former football coach has always identified as a Republican and voted for Republican candidates, including Trump and Kemp. The adviser noted that Georgia doesn’t require voters to register by party. Records show Dooley voted in the 2024 election in Georgia, his most recent voter activity.

Though he’s never sought public office, Dooley’s appeal lies in his family connections. He’s the son of legendary Georgia football coach Vince Dooley and has close personal ties to Gov. Brian Kemp, who roomed with Dooley’s brother in college and was a frequent guest at the family’s home. 

Still, Dooley’s lack of political record is already prompting doubts about whether a newcomer with no clear stance on key conservative issues can rally a Republican base that values loyalty to Trump.

“If you don’t think that Jon Ossoff is going to exploit the fact that this guy has no record of voting, hasn’t lived here, just moved back to the state, and his claim to fame is that he got fired from being head coach of Georgia’s No. 1 rival, you’re crazy,” said a GOP Georgia operative, speaking on the condition of anonymity, and referring to Dooley’s firing from Tennessee in 2012 after a bad season.

The Republican field is still taking shape, with three candidates officially in the race: Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), state Insurance Commissioner John King, and activist Reagan Box. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) also appears ready to jump into the race, hinting at an imminent announcement with a not-so-subtle post on X, “Tires kicked. Fueling up,” alongside a video of Trump praising him and appearing by his side.

Tires kicked. Fueling up. pic.twitter.com/d3jiMBwX8g

— Mike Collins (@MikeCollinsGA) July 21, 2025

The same GOP operative said Kemp’s support for Dooley, who has yet to announce a bid, is complicating the race and undercutting other Republicans’ ability to fundraise.

“The governor’s team putting their thumb on the scale for a guy who has 0% of winning the primary or general election is only helping Jon Ossoff and hurting another Republican’s ability to raise critical money early,” the operative said.

While Dooley has yet to formally launch his Senate bid, he’s begun laying the groundwork, hiring Cody Hall and Chelsey Ruppersburg, two longtime advisers to Gov. Brian Kemp. Their addition comes on the heels of Kemp’s trip to Washington, where he met with GOP leaders to discuss the race and urged donors to “keep your powder dry” as he and Trump attempted to unify behind a single GOP contender.

Hall’s involvement may complicate that effort. Hall, a top Kemp strategist, has drawn sharp criticism from Trump allies for his past attacks on the president while serving on Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign and for publicly supporting Trump’s rivals during the 2016 primary.

One Georgia GOP consultant called Dooley’s effort to present himself as a Trump-aligned candidate disingenuous, describing it as the campaign’s “original sin.”

“They are trying to play a Trump Republican when the candidate is hardly Republican, and the team hates Donald Trump,” the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Several Republican consultants told the Washington Examiner that staffing decisions are often the first loyalty test in Trumpworld, and that hiring outspoken Trump critics is a major red flag.

“The president is obviously in a position where he needs a majority in both chambers, because people try to impeach him,” said one GOP consultant. “When you’re fighting high-stakes poker like that, you need to know that the people who are running for these offices are on your team, and if they hire your enemies, that’s a problem.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are quietly relishing early signs of a Republican slugfest and seeing echoes of the intraparty dysfunction that helped deliver them two Senate seats in recent cycles.

In 2020, Sens. Ossoff and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) benefited from a brutal GOP civil war after Trump refused to back Kemp’s appointed senator, Kelly Loeffler, instead of boosting then-Rep. Doug Collins. The bitter feud fractured the conservative base and helped pave the way for Democratic victories in both runoffs.

Two years later, Democrats watched history repeat when Trump handpicked Herschel Walker for the Senate race despite growing concerns about his personal baggage. Kemp, who largely avoided the campaign until the final days, never fully closed ranks behind Walker, a dynamic that helped Warnock secure a full six-year term.

With Kemp and Trump pulling in different directions again, Democrats see another opportunity. Some strategists view Dooley as a political blank slate, a newcomer with no voting history, no party affiliation, and no clear positions on Republican priorities. That, they say, makes it easier for him to define early, particularly through the lens of Trump’s most unpopular policies.

“Running against a complete unknown can be sort of both a blessing and a curse,” said Democratic strategist Jon Reinish. “When someone is a blank slate, you can easily tie them to the unpopular points of the national party they’re trying to join.”

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Still, Dooley’s lack of political track record could also make him harder to attack.

“If they’ve never cast a vote or taken a public position, it’s harder to pin down specifics, and that can make them harder to define,” Reinish added.