Billionaire healthcare executive Rick Jackson outlasted Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican primary runoff on Tuesday and will face Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the race to see who becomes Georgia’s next governor.
Jackson beat Jones by about six percentage points. The Associated Press called the race at 9:45 p.m.
Jones had the endorsement of President Donald Trump and — in the final days of the campaign — Gov. Brian Kemp. He also poured tens of millions of dollars into his campaign, but Jackson spent more than $100 million.
Jackson also emphasized his political outsider status, as this was his first run for office. Jones was a longtime member of the state Senate before ascending to lieutenant governor, becoming the second-highest elected official in the state and president of the state Senate.
Jackson, a 71-year-old business owner, amassed a fortune from his company that provides contract healthcare personnel, and he’s used it to blanket television and online platforms with ads.
Appealing to hardcore Trump supporters, he’s pledged that immigrants in Georgia illegally will be “deported or departed.” He promises a slew of tax cuts. And previewing a general election argument, he’s played up his biography as a product of the state foster care system and featured his grandchildren advising him on how to make friendlier ads.
Jones, 47, comes from a wealthy family but ran a more modest campaign. Framing himself as a “proven leader,” Jones proposed eliminating Georgia’s state income tax — without detailing how he’d make up the revenue. And he trumpeted his presidential seal of approval and time as a University of Georgia football player in the 1990s. As lieutenant governor, Jones pushed legislation that ultimately did not pass but would have disqualified Jackson’s company from receiving taxpayer-funded contracts.
Trump supported Jones, but did not travel to Georgia to campaign with him. Trump did give the lieutenant governor a fresh round of support on social media and called in to a telephone rally during the early voting period.
Will Republicans coalesce around Jackson?
Republicans will have to regroup quickly after a bruising battle between Jackson and Jones.
Supporters of Jackson said they were surprised, shocked and confused by Kemp’s endorsement of Jones. As for Jackson himself, he was not critical of Kemp when asked about the endorsement.
Bottoms and U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff teamed up shortly after Bottoms won last month’s gubernatorial Democratic primary. They already held a joint rally last month in Atlanta, and they have another one happening later this month in Savannah.
Bottoms has painted Jackson and Jones with the same brush as she waited to see who would win the GOP nomination.
“They don’t see Trump’s reckless policies as a problem, they see them as a playbook,” she said, emphasizing inflation, especially for gas and groceries. “We already know we’re running against Trump’s do-boys.”
And now the clock starts on the four-and-a-half month leadup to November’s general election between Jackson and Bottoms to decide who succeeds Kemp.
Bottoms, Jackson react to facing each other for Georgia governor
Bottoms posted a video on social media shortly after the race was called for Jackson on Tuesday night. She cited Jackson’s closeness to Trump, and how he said he’d be “Trump’s favorite governor.”
“Well, while he is attempting to please Donald Trump, I’m going to keep working on issues that matter to the people of Georgia like expanding Medicaid, like making sure our teachers are paid what they are due … eliminating income taxes for our teachers, creating a pathway for free technical and community college, also making sure we are fully funding pre-K in this state, supporting our small businesses, making sure we are building and preserving more affordable workforce housing,” Bottoms said.
“Those are the things that I’m going to focus on while Rick Jackson keeps focusing on pleasing Donald Trump,” she added.
Jackson also posted on social media in the wake of clinching the Republican nomination. After thanking supporters, Jackson said, “Keisha Lance Bottoms did such a bad job as mayor, she didn’t even run for re-election. She would be an absolute disaster for Georgia.”
“We cannot let Keisha Lance Bottoms run Georgia like she did Atlanta,” he added.
Jackson said he’ll cut income taxes in half, lower property taxes and lower healthcare costs.
“Keisha Lance Bottoms represents the failed past,” he wrote. “We represent Georgia’s future. She wants to take the Atlanta City Hall agenda statewide. We will continue the foundation laid by Georgia’s Republican governors. She will make excuses. We will deliver results.”
