ATLANTA — Entrepreneur Rick Jackson defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in the Republican runoff for governor and will compete in November for the state’s top office against Democratic former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Jackson led Jones by several percentage points Tuesday night after all precincts had reported.
Jackson, who founded and leads a health care staffing company, poured more than $101 million of his personal wealth into his campaign.
Jones could not match Jackson’s spending despite his own family’s wealth from a petroleum business.
The two candidates’ campaign ad spending invited an attack from Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr when he was still in the running for the GOP nomination.
“There’s one really rich guy and one guy’s rich daddy that are trying to buy your vote,” he had said.
The week after Carr lost the primary, he threw his support behind Jackson. Carr had garnered nearly 12% of the vote on May 19, double the 6-point lead Jones held over Jackson in that race.
Jackson and Jones Republicans held similar views on major issues, supporting large state income tax cuts and enforcement of federal immigration law. Both appealed to supporters of President Donald Trump, though Trump had endorsed Jones, even phoning into a “tele-rally” for Jones last week after a previous such call ahead of the primary.
On Sunday, Gov. Brian Kemp, who had previously remained neutral, joined the fray in favor of Jones, issuing an endorsement Sunday night, less than two days before polls opened.
It wasn’t enough to boost Jones into the lead.
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, congratulated Jackson, saying that if he wins in November he will lower taxes, while supporting law enforcement and business growth with “commonsense conservative leadership that will deliver results for Georgia families.”
But Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, called Jackson “an out-of-touch billionaire who doesn’t even pretend to care about the issues facing Georgians.”
Jones’ defeat came a day before he was to preside over the Senate during a special session, with lawmakers returning to the Capitol to decide how the general election in November will be conducted.
Kemp called the session to begin Wednesday, asking lawmakers to establish new voting procedures after they voted to phase out the current QR-code system effective July 1. Kemp then issued a revised proclamation asking lawmakers to consider redistricting after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s protections against electoral maps that dilute minority voting strength.