Jon Ossoff:Georgia's senator. California's socialist.

In March 2021 the economy was already reopening, and Washington Democrats wanted one more massive spending bill. Jon Ossoff gave them a deciding vote. The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed the Senate 50–49 1. Ossoff's own office said he and Sen. Warnock "cast decisive votes" for it 2.

Then prices took off. Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco estimated that U.S. pandemic fiscal support "may have contributed to an increase in inflation of about 3 percentage points" by late 2021 3. Inflation in the South peaked at 9.8% in June 2022. In metro Atlanta it hit 11.7% in August 2022 4a4f. Between January 2021 and January 2025, grocery prices across the South rose 23.5% 4b.

When Republicans offered guardrails, Ossoff voted no. He opposed an amendment to block spending the Congressional Budget Office found would increase inflation 5, and a rule against new deficit spending unless inflation was below 3% 6. Then he voted for a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint 78. Today Ossoff says, "Georgia families are paying too much for groceries" 9. He's right. He just won't say how prices got there.

In January 2021, when Jon Ossoff was sworn in, a 30-year mortgage carried a 2.65% rate 10. Inflation took off, the Federal Reserve raised rates to fight it, and by October 2023 the mortgage rate hit 7.79%. It was 7.40% as of October 8, 2026 10. For a young Georgia family, that difference decides whether they can buy a starter home at all. Renters took it hard too: from January 2021 to January 2025, rent rose 31.1% in metro Atlanta and 29.2% across the South 4c4d.

So what does the DSA want to do about housing? DSA's national platform calls for "universal rent control" and "publicly-owned social housing" 11. Economists at Stanford who studied San Francisco's rent-control expansion found that landlords cut rental housing supply by 15%, which "likely drove up market rents in the long run" 12. That's the socialist housing plan, and it means fewer homes and higher rents.

Ossoff now touts a bipartisan housing bill passed in 2026 1314. He found the housing crisis five years and a 31% rent increase after he helped cause it.

Every Georgia family feels energy costs: at the pump and on the power bill, and again in the price of everything trucked to the store. From January 2021 to January 2025, electricity prices in the South rose 28.4% and gasoline rose 32.3% 4e4i.

Jon Ossoff's votes leaned toward less American energy, not more. Twice he voted against amendments to stop Washington from banning fracking 1516. He opposed a measure supporting the Keystone XL pipeline and opposed requiring its approval 1718. He then voted against amendments to keep oil and gas leasing going on federal lands 1920. He even opposed an amendment to shield Georgia's farmers and ranchers from costly Clean Air Act permits and new federal methane requirements on livestock 22.

Then he cast a deciding vote for the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden climate-and-spending law that passed only with the Vice President's tiebreaker 23. Ossoff said it was about "building an energy-independent economy" 24. DSA's platform is direct about where this leads: "Phase out the use of fossil fuels," with "publicly owned energy" 11. Ossoff never signed on to that platform. He just keeps voting for it.

In July 2025, Congress passed a tax law aimed straight at working Georgians. Under it, servers and bartenders can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips. Hourly workers can deduct the overtime premium, up to $12,500 for single filers or $25,000 for joint filers. Seniors 65 and older get a new $6,000 deduction. Small-business owners keep their 20% pass-through deduction permanently 2829. Jon Ossoff voted no. The bill passed the Senate on a 50–50 tie broken by the Vice President 25.

It wasn't the first time. In 2021 he voted against an amendment to make the 2017 individual and small-business tax rate cuts permanent 31. He voted against an amendment to keep "trillions of dollars in job-killing tax hikes" out of the Democrats' budget plan, in the sponsor's words 32. In 2022 he voted against a Crapo amendment to keep new IRS money from being used to audit taxpayers earning under $400,000 33.

The far left wants "aggressive wealth taxes" and "public ownership of the largest corporations" 11. The Georgia waitress working a double shift wants to keep her tips. Ossoff voted against the law that let her.

The 2025 federal shutdown was the longest in American history 36. It started October 1 and ended when the funding bill was signed November 12, 2025, after 43 days 5835. Georgia families relying on SNAP food assistance received only partial November benefits until it was over 35.

Over those weeks the Senate voted again and again on H.R. 5371, a stopgap bill to fund the government. The Senate's own roll calls show Jon Ossoff voted NO on all 18 recorded votes to pass or advance it, from September 19 to November 10, 2025 34. That includes the final bill, which reopened the government and funded SNAP for the full fiscal year 3435.

By November the FAA was cutting flights at 40 airports, Hartsfield-Jackson among them, and dozens of Atlanta departures were cancelled 6162. Ossoff and Senate Democrats demanded that any funding deal extend Affordable Care Act premium subsidies 5859. You can debate that policy. But Jon Ossoff would rather have grounded flights at the busiest airport in the world than work with a Republican to reopen the government. His party leadership wanted the fight, and he went along with them all 18 times.

Jon Ossoff is the socialists' favorite senator. Bernie Sanders endorsed him twice, and Ossoff said, "I welcome his support" 47. The Democratic Socialists of America publish their demands every cycle 11, and on the ones that drive up your costs, Ossoff's record lines up with their platform, vote after vote. His money tells the same story: about 82% of his itemized dollars came from outside Georgia, and donors in California gave about as much as donors in Georgia 52.

DSA wants "universal healthcare at no cost to individuals." Ossoff was one of only three senators, with Bernie Sanders and Raphael Warnock, to vote for Sanders' 2022 amendment to add dental, hearing and vision coverage to Medicare 1137. DSA wants a "living minimum wage." Ossoff voted for Sanders' 2021 push for a $15 federal minimum wage inside the COVID bill 113860. DSA wants to "cancel all student debt." Ossoff voted to keep Biden's student-loan cancellation, which CBO estimated would cost about $400 billion 113940. DSA wants to "phase out the use of fossil fuels." Ossoff voted twice against protecting fracking 111516. DSA wants to rewrite how Washington's institutions work. Ossoff voted to change Senate rules to get around the filibuster 1141.

In August 2026 Ossoff endorsed Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed: "The primary is in the past and the nominee has my support" 42. Detroit DSA calls El-Sayed "comrade" and a "longtime friend," and he headlined its fundraiser 43. That is who Jon Ossoff stands with. Georgia can judge whether it stands with him.

Who is Jon Ossoff working for? Follow the money. Jon Ossoff works for his donors, and they don't even live here. OpenSecrets reports Ossoff has pulled in "almost $52.9 million from outside Georgia" this cycle 51. By the Federal Election Commission's state tally of itemized contributions through June 30, 2026, about 82% of that money came from outside Georgia, and donors in California gave about as much as donors in Georgia 5253.

In August 2026, with Georgia families squeezed by prices, OpenSecrets reported Ossoff was "scheduled to headline a fundraiser on Nantucket" 51.

When most of your money comes from outside of Georgia, it's easy to vote for coastal priorities and leave Georgia with the bill.