ATLANTA (AP) — He’s not the first billionaire to promise working-class voters that he will fight for them in public office. Rick Jacksonthe Republican candidate for governor of Georgia, even compared himself to the real estate mogul who arrived in the Oval Office.
But Jackson’s path differs from that of Donald Trumpand the 72 year old man healthcare tycoon and investor brings a very different character to his first campaign. Unlike Trump, who was born of wealthJackson spent his early years bouncing around foster homes before starting his first business as a young man.
Now he wants to exploit both his similarities and contrasts with the president, a challenge he’s taking on with plenty of campaign cash and a personal story that anchors his appeal to voters.
“I lived in poverty,” Jackson says. “When you haven’t eaten, you never forget that, and you don’t forget the people who are struggling.”
Democratic candidate Stockings Keisha Lanceformer Atlanta mayor, is challenging Jackson’s altruistic rhetoric, setting up the Nov. 3 election as a test of whether an alternative, gentler version of conservative billionaire politics can complement or even counter Trump’s pugilistic populism in a key state.
Jackson planned to join Trump at a rally Saturday in Perry, in what would be his second appearance with the president in the latter part of the campaign.
“From foster family to billionaire”
“My father left me when I was nine months old. My mother was a sixth-grade waitress with a serious drinking problem,” Jackson said during the only debate of their general election campaign. “I had seven stepfathers before the age of 12. I lived in the neighborhoods, attended 13 different schools, and lived with five different host families. »
He left college to start a business at age 21. That led to Jackson Healthcare, a giant company that provides contract nurses and other workers to hospitals and health systems, including public entities that helped fuel Jackson’s fortune with taxpayer dollars.
At fan events, Jackson gets more personal.
“Because of my background, I have serious abandonment issues,” he told hundreds of voters in Cleveland, a conservative enclave in the northern Georgia mountains. He turns this recognition into a promise: “Let me tell you one thing: I will never abandon you. »
Themes of rags to riches are not uncommon in politics, and it is what gave rise to Jackson’s campaign motto: “From foster home to billionaire.” But the scale is staggering, highlighted by the nearly $200 million Jackson personally spent on the campaign. This places him among the most self-funded candidates in the history of American elections.
But on this point too, Jackson tries to soften the caricature of the billionaire leader.
“It’s not my money,” he said in a northern Atlanta suburb. Jackson calls his fortune “God’s money” and says “my job is to impact the kingdom” with that money.
“The reason I spent so much money doing this,” he said, is “to help 11 million Georgians, to keep them out of trouble.”
A range of images over a long campaign
Jackson launched his bid as a relative unknown, although Capitol insiders knew him because of Jackson Healthcare, his lucrative state contracts and his lobbying interest in health care, business and tax policy.
The Republican primary field featured a trio of statewide elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who won Trump’s endorsement in August 2025before Jackson entered.
During the primary, Jackson embraced the president even though he was not Trump’s choice. Jackson sometimes promised to “be like Trump, but with a Southern tone.” He pledged to “give Georgia the same type of trade solutions that President Trump is bringing to our country.”
Largely aligning with Trump on immigration, Jackson has promised to make Georgia a national leader on deportations.
“It doesn’t matter if you are Muslim or Mongolian, you have no right to impose your culture on our country,” he said in an ad. “Illegal criminals” who “commit violent and unhealthy crimes” “would eventually be deported or left,” he promised.
Shortly after beating Jones in a runoff, Jackson shelved the immigration ad, but not before using it as part of a spot featuring his grandchildren. “Grandpa, why do you look so mean in these commercials?” » » you ask after watching the clip “deported or disappeared” on your phone. The children and teenagers then tell their grandfather how he can “look cool” with a van, a dog and a trendy wardrobe.
“Let’s make Georgia better together,” concluded Jackson, straightening.
He has since released an ad to several young adults who have benefited from the millions he has spent helping foster children who age out of the Georgia system when they turn 18. “I’m so proud of you,” he said to them, choking up.
On politics, Republican fare and centrist appeals
While softening his image, Jackson maintains traditional Republican positions, pledging to cut taxes, regulation and what he describes as waste. If he fails to cut income taxes in half in four years, he promises not to seek a second term. He wants a balanced budget and comprehensive audits of state spending, without saying that state law requires a balanced budget and that audits of state agencies have long been standard practice.
He says he will expand health care without expanding Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. Instead, he says he can fund broader coverage through partnerships with private insurers. This would require Washington to grant authorization and commit a level of financial support that no state has obtained without expanding the traditional Medicaid program.
Jackson says he can do all this while increasing spending on teacher salaries and vocational education.
At the same time, he toned down his adulation for Trump, reflecting Georgia’s general election reckoning and voters’ frustrations with the Iran war and inflation.
In July, Jackson stood alongside Trump in Marietta and expressed his hope to “become this guy’s favorite governor.” When Trump returned to Dalton on October 16, Jackson did not mention Trump at all in his own speech. Later, when the president called him on stage, Jackson praised Trump — for standing up for children in foster care. When Trump announced he would be returning to Georgia on Saturday, Jackson’s campaign initially planned its own event in metro Atlanta before changing it so that Jackson would be with the president again.
Bottoms disputes Jackson’s appeal
Bottoms says Jackson is “trying to buy this election” so he can become a Trump stooge. And Democrats have echoed Jackson’s way of talking about the economy.
Regarding trade schools, Jackson said during the debate that “my plumber drives a Mercedes.” Discussing inflation and crime during his town hall-style debate with Bottoms, he suggested that Atlantans didn’t feel safe “at the gas store” during his tenure. When a citizen at the debate asked Jackson about the minimum wage and basic livelihoods, Jackson responded, “I hope you’re not the one getting the $7.50 an hour.” »
The minimum wage is $7.25. Bottoms offered to overtake him. Jackson offered no raise. “My goal is to create jobs,” he said. “I’ve been creating jobs my whole life.”
Jackson’s poise is enough for Debbie Satterfield, a 72-year-old woman who came to a Jackson rally in White County wearing both a Trump shirt and a Jackson sticker.
“When I heard about his tough upbringing and how far he had come from nothing,” she said. “It reminds me of my life that started with nothing. You can see his soul.”
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