Rick Jackson gives Republicans the steam power to push against Trump headwinds
America’s macroeconomic picture may look good with near full employment and a stable stock market, but the microeconomic picture is dreadful.
Americans are feeling pain at the pump and in the grocery store. The president has never met a rake he did not want to step on. Tariffs have had the negative effects mainstream economics said they would.
The war has added to uncertainty and prices. Republicans are sailing into headwinds, mostly of the president’s making.
A few different Republicans in Georgia have told me the same thing in different settings over the past few months.
Republican door knockers are getting doors slammed in their faces. Independent voters are mad. Republican voters are mad. Democratic voters are furious and fired up. One longtime Republican told me this year feels worse than 2018.
Jackson’s money will propel the GOP
In 1787, on the Delaware River, John Fitch built a 45-foot-long steam-powered boat relying on James Watt’s 1769 groundbreaking improvements on the steam engine.
Fitch’s boat was not economically viable, but he inspired Robert Fulton, who, by 1811, had a steamboat that could navigate the lower Mississippi River, where boat traffic tended to be one way with the currents, only for the flat-bottom boats to be hauled north by animals.
With Fulton’s steam-powered ship, the New Orleans, Americans no longer had to depend on winds and currents for navigation. Headwinds were no match for steam power. For Republicans in Georgia, gubernatorial nominee Rick Jackson is their Robert Fulton this year. His money is pushing the GOP against headwinds that could otherwise sink the party.
According to AdImpact, Republicans in Georgia have $34.9 million in gubernatorial ad reservations through the election, with $31.5 million of it being cable and broadcast ads starting after Sept. 28. Democrats have $281,000 in ad reservations with nothing for cable and broadcast after Sept. 28. That is just brutal and does not include most digital advertisements.
Democratic nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms has to rely on U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff to carry her across the finish line. As of Sept. 21, 2026, Rick Jackson took the polling lead in the Real Clear Politics polling average. Pollster Patrick Ruffini has documented Democrats tend to have a significant polling bias in the summer, as Republicans do not talk to pollsters.
After September, Republicans start to talk, and the polling settles closer to reality. That seems to be the trend in Georgia. Jackson’s bottomless pit of money helps.
Ossoff’s success won’t translate downballot
Recently, I stopped by a Republican fundraiser for Secretary of State nominee Tim Fleming and Attorney General nominee Brian Strickland by my house in Middle Georgia.
It was the first time I had seen Republicans happy in a while. A number of politicians from across the state were there. They all tell me Jackson’s momentum is helping them. They all tell me it is closer than they want, but the GOP cash advantage is starting to translate into a more energized Republican base.
Overwhelmingly, Republicans think Jackson’s ads with just the sights and sounds of Atlanta during the summer of 2020, with Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, insisting she was proud of her work, have done more for them than anything else.
At this point, it is hard to find a knowledgeable Republican who thinks Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins can win. It is equally hard to find a knowledgeable Democrat who thinks Mayor Bottoms will win.
One prominent Democrat told me the problem with Rick Jackson’s ads is that from that race down, all the races are Georgia races, not races to stop Donald Trump.
Sen. Ossoff can run on accountability for Trump and Washington. Mayor Bottoms cannot. Neither can the other statewide Democratic candidates. They not only have no money to define themselves; they have no money for a major machine to turn out votes. They are relying on rage about the president, and Jackson’s ads neutralize that rage against the candidates not running for federal office.
There are still about 40 days to go. Republicans in Georgia are breathing a sigh of relief. Jackson has made clear he’s there not just for himself, but for the whole team of state candidates. Federal campaign law makes it hard for Jackson to be of help to Collins, though some Republicans hope Jackson’s coattails get Collins across the finish line too as the Senate polling narrows. I personally think the gap there is just too wide, but hope springs eternal for the GOP.
Rick Jackson was the wild card no one saw coming. He has upended Democratic plans for Georgia. The race is not over. The election is not tomorrow. But Republicans believe Jackson has built up enough steam to help them all overcome the headwinds from Washington.
Erick Erickson is host of the nationally syndicated “Erick Erickson Show,” heard noon-3 p.m. weekdays on WSB Radio. He is also a contributor to the AJC.
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