Georgia GOP runoff shocker: Rick Jackson beats Burt Jones despite Trump-Kemp backing

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The political war of attrition between Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson ended Tuesday night, with Jackson continuing his seismic shakeup of Georgia’s political establishment by winning the GOP gubernational nomination.

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Jones and Jackson finished first and second, respectively, in last month’s GOP governor’s primary, but neither man was able to secure enough votes to win that election outright.

On Tuesday, Jones lost the runoff despite the endorsements of President Donald Trump and Gov. Brian Kemp, two men whose political differences stem all the way back to Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

Jackson opened an early lead over Jones in the first minutes of Tuesday night’s election results, and never relinquished his lead.

Jackson - the founder and CEO of Jackson Healthcare - announced his campaign in February with a $50 million seed of his own money, which included a $40 million ad buy.

Since then, both he and Jones - himself a millionaire whose wealth is generally attributed to his family’s real estate and other ventures - spent tens of millions of dollars in what has become one of Georgia’s most expensive gubernatorial races in history.

The campaign to succeed outgoing Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp also drew Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Now Jackson turns his campaign’s attention to Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the one-term Atlanta mayor and former Biden White House official who won her primary outright last month. Bottoms hopes to become the nation’s first Black female governor.

Georgia has not elected a Democrat to the governor’s mansion this century.

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