Rick Jackson, the Republican nominee for Georgia governor, is trying to stay close to President Donald Trump while presenting himself as a champion of working-class voters. Jackson planned to appear with Trump at a rally Saturday in Perry, Georgia. It would be his second appearance with the president in the closing stretch of the campaign, The Associated Press reported through ABC News 1.
Jackson is a 72-year-old healthcare investor. He founded Jackson Healthcare, a company that supplies contract nurses and other workers to hospitals and health systems, including public ones 1. He has spent nearly $200 million of his own money on the race, which puts him among the largest self-funded candidates in American history 1.
A foster-care story and a billionaire's budget
Jackson's campaign motto is "From foster care to billionaire." He says he spent his early years in foster homes and left college at 21 to start a business 1. In the only general-election debate, he said he lived in five different foster homes 1.
I have lived in poverty,
He also calls his fortune "God's money" and says he is spending it to help Georgians avoid struggling 1.
From Channel GOPKeisha Lance Bottoms answers Trump's Georgia boastKeisha Lance Bottoms · 140 plays · captioned, with the source named
Embracing Trump, then softening
Trump did not back Jackson in the Republican primary. He endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who lost to Jackson in a runoff 1. During the primary, Jackson promised to "be like Trump, but with Southern tone" and to make Georgia a national leader in deportations 1.
After the runoff, Jackson shelved an immigration ad that promised "criminal illegals" would "end up deported or departed." He replaced it with spots featuring his grandchildren and foster-care alumni 1.
Trump later endorsed Jackson at a July 22 event in Cobb County, outside Atlanta. Jackson told the crowd, pointing at Trump, "I'm going to be this man's favorite governor" 2. Trump said of him, "I watched this man run and he's really phenomenal actually" 2.
The Democratic response
Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, disputes Jackson's altruistic pitch 1. She argues the choice is about whom the next governor would answer to 2.
There's a clear choice in this election: Rick Jackson would work for Donald Trump, I will work for Georgians.
Jackson's company holds state contracts and he has lobbied on healthcare, business and tax policy, according to the AP 1. That sits alongside a pitch built on fighting for ordinary people.
Jackson's platform is traditional Republican. He promises to cut taxes and regulation, and says he will not seek a second term if he cannot halve the state income tax in four years 1. He says he would expand healthcare without expanding Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for low-income people, under the 2010 Affordable Care Act 1.
The AP frames the Nov. 3 election as a test of whether a softer version of conservative billionaire politics can complement, or even counter, Trump's combative populism in a key swing state 1. Georgia's current governor, Brian Kemp, is term-limited 2.
The Record
Sources
- ABC News (AP), “Republican billionaire Rick Jackson is walking a Trump tightrope in his quest to lead Georgia” (2026-10-24). abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/republican-billionaire-rick-j
- Georgia Recorder (States Newsroom), “Trump makes it official and endorses Jackson in race for Georgia governor” (2026-07-24). newsfromthestates.com/article/trump-makes-it-official-and-en
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