Surprise: Republican Rick Jackson enters Georgia governor’s race
Republican health care executive Rick Jackson made a surprise entrance Tuesday into the Georgia race for governor, upending the three-candidate GOP contest with a well-funded outsider campaign for the state’s top job.
The billionaire founder of Jackson Healthcare said he is pumping in at least $50 million of his own cash to help jumpstart his campaign, and has already started piecing together a $40 million ad buy.
“Career politicians are going to do nothing, get rich and keep you in the dark. They always do. But if you’re ready for a real-life conservative who knows how to fight the tough fights and win big for Georgia, I’m Rick Jackson and I’m asking for your vote,” he said in his campaign launch video.
Billing himself as a pro-Donald Trump, straight-shooting outsider with nothing to lose, Jackson is hoping his deep bank account will help him overcome three veteran GOP contenders.
The front-runner is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who won Trump’s endorsement months ago. Attorney General Chris Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger are also carving out their lanes ahead of the May GOP primary.
Jackson, 71, is a first-time candidate for top-tier Georgia office, but he’s not new to state politics. He’s a longtime donor to conservative causes and candidates, and has played an influential role in working to improve outcomes for foster children who are aging out of the system. His interest in the state’s foster care system came from personal experience.
At age 13, he was placed in the state foster care system because of troubles at home. After bouncing around to several foster homes, he landed with a Christian family that offered him a “stable environment to have a chance,” he said in a 2014 interview.
He graduated from high school but didn’t have money for college. He got a job recruiting secretaries for a temp agency that he later bought. He went into the executive search business with his Sunday school teacher and got into the physician recruiting business in 1978. He founded other companies and describes himself as a “serial entrepreneur in health care.”
By 2000, however, he almost went broke. That year he “retooled” with his current venture, Jackson Healthcare. The privately held Alpharetta company has grown to 800 employees and helps place doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in temporary jobs nationwide. By 2012, the company reported $500 million in revenue.
In his campaign launch, Jackson said he took on Georgia’s “broken political system” to help foster kids.
He also took familiar MAGA stances, saying Trump inspired him to run for office. He promised to embrace the president’s immigration crackdown, fight “woke ideology” and ban diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“And if we can’t cut the state income tax in half and freeze property taxes, I won’t run again. Simple as that,” he said.
About the Author
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
