Rick Jackson, Burt Jones headed to Georgia GOP governor’s runoff
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — After months of one of the most bitter, intense intra-party battles in recent history, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and billionaire healthcare CEO Rick Jackson will have another month to continue their political war of attrition.
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On Tuesday, Jones and Jackson finished first and second, respectively in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary.
The GOP primary also drew the candidacies of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, both of whom are now out of office since they resigned their positions to run for Georgia’s top job.
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A $19 million onslaught of negative ads aimed at the lieutenant governor by a nebulous group called Georgians for Integrity, followed by Jackson’s stunning campaign announcement in February, threw the Republican primary into a political stratosphere unlike any Georgia has seen this century.
Despite Carr’s and Raffensperger’s campaigns, Jones - armed with President Donald Trump’s endorsement - once seemed like the inevitable GOP governor’s nominee. But then along came Jackson and his personal fortune, which turned the entire race upside down.
Jackson and Jones have not only battled each other on the campaign trail and over the airwaves, they’ve also fought each other in the courts. Jackson has filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones, who accused the business executive and his company, Jackson Healthcare, of recruiting for Planned Parenthood and “helping doctors perform transgender procedures on minors,” according to the lawsuit.
Jones, for his part, has fought to keep his campaign funded through his leadership committee, which allows him to raise money year-round for a variety of election-related activities and candidates.
The chairperson of those committees must be the governor, lieutenant governor, party nominees for those offices or legislative leaders, giving the people who occupy those spots a potential significant edge when running for office themselves.
A Jackson lawsuit temporarily cut off those funds, but a judge - again, temporarily - reinstated them.
The GOP gubernatorial primary runoff is set for June 16, 2026.
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