The Decision Desk projects that Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia has defeated Republican challenger Rep. Mike Collins.

Ossoff, once considered by the GOP to be the most vulnerable Democratic senator seeking re-election in the 2026 midterms, will now keep his job representing the southeastern battleground state in the U.S. Senate. He took an early lead in the race when polls closed Tuesday night, which only expanded as the hours wore on.

His victory means Georgia, a one-time red bastion that swung to the center in recent years, will continue to have two Democrats representing the state in the Senate. He’s the second Democratic senator to hold his seat on Tuesday night after Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., was also projected to win re-election.

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«A workhorse for the people of Georgia, Senator Ossoff has spent the last six years in the U.S. Senate providing outstanding constituent services, standing up for children, and fighting to make life better,» the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm said in a statement after Ossoff’s victory.

«Georgians sent him back to the Senate because they know he will always show up for them, and now he’ll continue putting Georgia families first.»

Ossoff and fellow Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock were both elected in runoff elections at the end of the 2020 cycle, ending a decade and a half of Georgia’s all-Republican representation in the Senate. Weeks earlier, former President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to carry the state in nearly three decades.

But Georgia shifted back to the right in 2024, with President Donald Trump reclaiming the state and winning the White House.

At the start of the 2026 cycle, Georgia was atop the GOP’s target list of seats to flip, and Republicans aimed to hold their 53-47 Senate majority.

While Ossoff built a massive campaign war chest as he cruised unopposed to renomination, Collins was part of a combustible three-way GOP primary Senate battle with Rep. Buddy Carter and former college football coach Derek Dooley, who was supported by popular term-limited conservative Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

Collins and Dooley advanced to a June runoff, which Collins won due in part to an eleventh-hour Trump endorsement.

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In the general election showdown, Collins made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign, spotlighting the Laken Riley Act, which he authored. The law requires the detention of certain illegal immigrants who are arrested for, charged with, convicted of or admit to committing specified offenses. Ossoff voted for the measure but has criticized the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics.

Collins also accused Ossoff of supporting policies that drove up inflation and taxes, while the senator targeted Collins over his backing of Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran, which triggered a surge in gas and diesel prices and an overall rise in the cost of living.

During their debates, Ossoff also put Collins on defense over a House ethics investigation into whether the congressman abused taxpayer funds by hiring the girlfriend of his former chief of staff for work she allegedly did not perform. Collins has insisted the issue is simply a «complaint» with no merit.

Collins also faced heat over social media posts by his son-in-law — a social media influencer on the far right — that shared Nazi imagery and antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Ossoff, meanwhile, faced questions about receiving campaign funds from Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist whose name appeared in the Epstein files.

While GOP-aligned outside groups initially spent big bucks to back Collins and make up for his massive fundraising deficit in his battle against Ossoff, the Republican spigot was cut back substantially in the final weeks leading up to Election Day. The move was a sign that many Republicans were giving up on their hopes of flipping the Senate seat in Georgia.

Ossoff, whom pundits view as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, has repeatedly said he has «zero interest» in running for the White House next cycle. And in a debate with Collins last month, he pledged to serve out his full six-year Senate term if re-elected.

The senator, a Georgia native, served as a national security staffer and legislative assistant for Rep. Hank Johnson before working as managing director of an investigative documentary production company. He first grabbed national attention in 2017, when he narrowly lost a special congressional election for a House seat that had long been a GOP stronghold.

Collins, who is also a Georgia native, is the son of the late Rep. Mac Collins. A businessman and the co-founder along with his wife of a trucking company, he was first elected to Congress in 2022.

politics, georgia, senate, raphael warnock, donald trump, midterm elections, democratic party

Científicos colocan transmisores de rastreo en mariposas monarca para descifrar las rutas de su migración continental, de hasta 4.800 kilómetros, y encontrar los sitios de descanso clave antes de que desaparezcan.

Según informó AFP, la Federación Nacional de Vida Silvestre (NWF) y un equipo trinacional de investigadores colocaron en 2026 pequeños dispositivos de radio en casi 1.750 mariposas monarca para obtener, por primera vez con precisión, un mapa de sus rutas migratorias a lo largo de Norteamérica. La iniciativa ya arrojó descubrimientos inéditos y encendió esperanzas para una especie cuya población oriental se redujo más del 80% desde mediados de los años noventa.

La científica principal del proyecto, Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón, lleva años preguntándose dónde se detienen las monarcas durante sus travesías. Ahora, junto a otros investigadores, dirige un estudio que combina seguimiento en tiempo real con ciencia ciudadana para identificar esas paradas en Texas, un estado por el que pasa una porción significativa de las mariposas que viajan al este de las Montañas Rocosas cada otoño.

Las monarcas recorren un corredor conocido como el “embudo de Texas” y sus rutas varían año a año

Las mariposas que migran al este de las Montañas Rocosas atraviesan un estrecho corredor texano —el llamado “embudo de Texas”— en busca de agua, néctar y refugios nocturnos. Su trayectoria exacta cambia según las condiciones ambientales de cada temporada, un detalle que durante décadas eludió a los científicos por falta de tecnología adecuada.

Los transmisores utilizados, desarrollados por Cellular Tracking Technologies, cuestan USD 200 por unidad y pesan aproximadamente lo mismo que una gota de agua. Solo las mariposas que superan los 400 miligramos —el peso de una pastilla estándar— son aptas para recibirlos, con el fin de no sobrecargarlas. David La Puma, vicepresidente de la empresa y coordinador del Proyecto Monarch Collaboration, explicó que otros investigadores también buscan ejemplares con alas más largas para marcarlos.

El proceso de colocación requiere precisión: las mariposas se capturan con redes, se mantienen a temperaturas frescas para calmarlas y se fijan sobre una tabla especial. Con un hisopo de algodón se aplica adhesivo en el abdomen del insecto y en la etiqueta, que luego se presiona con suavidad antes de liberar al animal.

Desde que comenzó el seguimiento, los científicos hallaron conexiones migratorias que antes solo habían podido hipotetizar

El rastreo ya produjo resultados que sorprendieron al equipo. Los investigadores encontraron la primera prueba documentada de una mariposa monarca proveniente de Utah —al oeste de las Montañas Rocosas— que se unió a las monarcas orientales en el centro de México. Otros ejemplares migraron por la costa este hasta Florida, cruzaron el Golfo de México y continúan su recorrido por territorio mexicano: una conexión que los científicos no habían observado antes en tal escala.

“Existen todas estas historias únicas sobre sus trayectorias, conexiones entre las poblaciones, que desconocíamos o que habíamos hipotetizado, pero no pudimos probar”, dijo Emma Pelton, bióloga conservacionista sénior de la Sociedad Xerces para la Conservación de Invertebrados. Desde que comenzó la migración en 2026, unas 175 mariposas marcadas fueron detectadas en México.

Louie Yang, ecólogo de insectos de la Universidad de California en Davis, calificó la tecnología de “bastante notable”, aunque advirtió sus limitaciones: el sistema no indica la ubicación exacta del insecto, sino el punto donde el receptor lo detectó. Además, una detección no garantiza que la mariposa siga con vida. Yang señaló que serán necesarios más estudios para determinar cómo —y si— las etiquetas afectan el comportamiento de los animales.

Los pesticidas, el cambio climático y la pérdida de hábitat siguen diezmando a la especie

Las monarcas suelen vivir entre dos y seis semanas, pero las que migran a México pueden alcanzar los nueve meses de vida. Ese ciclo largo —que incluye el vuelo hacia el sur, el invierno en los bosques de abetos oyamel del centro de México y el regreso al norte para reproducirse— las convirtió en símbolo de los derechos de los migrantes internacionales.

Sin embargo, su población lleva décadas en retroceso. La población occidental se redujo alrededor del 95% desde mediados de los años noventa. Los pesticidas representan una amenaza directa para la asclepia, la planta donde las monarcas depositan sus huevos y única fuente de alimento para sus orugas.

Tierra Curry, científica sénior y codirectora de especies en peligro de extinción del Centro para la Diversidad Biológica, señaló que el cambio climático altera los patrones de migración: las altas temperaturas en las zonas del norte retrasan las señales de partida, y si luego las temperaturas caen bruscamente, muchas mariposas no llegan a México. Las sequías prolongadas reducen las fuentes de néctar y agua, mientras que en California los bosques donde invernan las monarcas occidentales ceden espacio a proyectos urbanísticos.

Nuevas medidas buscan frenar la caída de la población en carreteras, jardines y corredores naturales

Ante ese panorama, los conservacionistas impulsan alternativas concretas. En Texas, redes instaladas sobre algunas carreteras incentivan a las mariposas a volar más alto, especialmente de noche, cuando descienden para posarse. La plantación masiva de algodoncillo y flores polinizadoras en jardines, bordes de carreteras y corredores de transporte también suma adeptos. Según Curry, varios estudios muestran que estas prácticas están fortaleciendo las poblaciones locales.

“Los polinizadores son fundamentales para proteger y garantizar que nuestros ecosistemas se mantengan saludables, y también para tener las fuentes de alimento que necesitamos como seres humanos”, destacó Quiñonez-Piñón. El público puede seguir el desplazamiento de cada mariposa marcada a través de la aplicación gratuita Project Monarch Science.

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The Supreme Court’s conservative majority offered clear support Tuesday for Catholic preschools that claim Colorado’s taxpayer-funded program improperly excludes them by unconstitutionally intruding on their religious rights.

At issue is whether those private education institutions that deny admission to children of LGBTQ+ parents violate state anti-discrimination laws, and can therefore be denied a generally applicable public benefit.

It is the latest high-profile religious rights appeal to reach the high court in recent years, several of them originating from Colorado.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS, BANNED RIFLES AND ‘CLIMATE LAWFARE’: BLOCKBUSTER FIGHTS AWAIT SUPREME COURT

In a lively two-hour oral argument, the justices debated competing interests involving both religious liberty and a state’s interest in ensuring equal opportunity for gay and lesbian parents.

«I’m hard-pressed to think that, given those [Catholic] teachings, that any homosexual family is going to choose to go to one of these schools, but that should be their choice, not your choice to exclude them,» said Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the lawyer for the plaintiffs. «That’s what you’re asking for… You want an official statement by the State that I will subsidize you with public money even though – because I have a right to reject children.»

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But Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the state’s motives, however well-intentioned, are promoting a kind of conformity that is not constitutionally permissible.

«Why not seek the win/win?» Kavanaugh asked the attorney for the state. «There are plenty of opportunities to respect the rights of the religious believers and respect the ability of LGBT parents to find among the 2,000 [Colorado] schools an appropriate fit for their children.

«It seems like this is a would-be solution in search of a problem that is unnecessary to create this clash,» he added. «There’s an ability for everyone to go to the school, a good school that’s a fit for them, and respect religious rights.»

Colorado established a Universal Preschool Program (UPK) in a 2020 ballot measure, distributing public funds for participating schools, with the requirement they «provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability.»

Two Catholic parishes sued, arguing the policy targets their sincerely held beliefs about same-sex marriage.

The archdiocese in the state manages 34 preschools, with a policy to only admit students from ​families who support Catholic ideology, including on same-sex relationships and gender identity.

They seek exemptions to the Colorado law, arguing their exclusion is a form of religious discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.

The Trump administration has signaled its support of the religious plaintiffs.

The state counters its public benefit conditions are neutral and generally applied to every preschool.

It provides a $6,300 annual benefit per child for up to 15 hours a week of preschool, with money coming from a tobacco tax.

Officials told the nine-member bench that religious schools are free to participate but must abide by nondiscrimination laws, similar to those affecting low-income and disabled students.

As part of its review of the Colorado dispute, the high court will decide whether to narrow a 36-year-old precedent that religious practices do not create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.

The First Amendment states, «Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.»

The Supreme Court in prior decades had focused on the first part, ensuring a constitutional separation of church and state, when disputes over religious rights reached the public sphere.

But the current conservative bench in the past few years — led by Justice Samuel Alito — has trended toward favoring religious institutions raising «free exercise» claims.

The justices have separately backed a Colorado baker, mental health counselor and website developer, who all challenged the state’s anti-discrimination policies.

The oral arguments Tuesday seemed to divide along ideological lines.

Conservative justices focused on the «free exercise» claims by the Catholic parishes that state requirements for receiving public benefits amounted to religious discrimination.

«Explain what the difference is between [explicitly excluding Catholic schools] and then choosing to impose a condition that you know that those schools will be unable to agree to?» said Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

But Justice Elena Kagan cited the court’s prior cases, which she said affirmed the idea «you can’t treat religious institutions differently.»

«That’s not the principle that’s at issue here,» Kagan said. «The principle at issue here is: Do you have to treat them better?»

Chief Justice John Roberts asked tough questions of both sides and his vote could prove determinative. At one point, he expressed skepticism that recent rulings favoring the rights of religious schools over similar claims should also prevail in the current petition.

«The law in those cases, in each of them, expressly discriminated against religious schools on its face,» Roberts told Reaves. «That’s not the case here,» suggesting Colorado’s law may be applied fairly across the board.

The current dispute was brought by plaintiffs including St. Mary Catholic School.

Erika Nagle, whose children attend the Littleton facility, told Digital that two of her children were denied access to the state’s preschool funding program, leaving her family to cover additional education expenses.

«We are being excluded from this benefit because we are Catholic,» Nagle said in an interview with Digital. «And so in a state that preaches inclusion, they are actively going out of their way to exclude a huge chunk of people because of our religious beliefs.

«We have had two preschools in the archdiocese that have been closed down,» she added. «The state is dangling a carrot over here, incentivizing people to leave their faith, to abandon the Catholic education that they want.»

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty represented the plaintiffs in court, arguing the state’s policies are having severe consequences, with enrollment at archdiocesan preschools falling 20% and two schools shuttered.

The state counters that religious entities like Catholic Charities, at least three dozen Christian schools, one Muslim and three Jewish schools continue to participate in the preschool funding program.

«Colorado welcomes religious preschools» to its program, state attorney Helen Norton told the high court. «The only thing Colorado asks is that they comply with the same conditions that every publicly funded preschool must meet, religious and secular alike.»

The case is St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy (25-581), with a ruling expected by next spring.

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