Billionaire Rick Jackson appealing to MAGA crowd in Georgia’s governor race

A billionaire health executive who’s running for governor in the state of Georgia is hoping to win over the MAGA base, though President Donald Trump has endorsed another candidate for the job.

The president has specifically endorsed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, not that billionaire Rick Jackson is worried about it.

“Jackson has vastly outspent his opponents on the airwaves and has rapidly seen dividends in some early public polling,” according to NBC News. “He’s even leading in some of them.”

Case in point:

GEORGIA GOP PRIMARIES

GOVERNOR
Rick Jackson: 22%
Brad Raffensperger: 18%
Burt Jones: 16%
Chris Carr: 10%
Not sure: 34%
——
SENATE
Mike Collins: 34%
Buddy Carter: 19%
Derek Dooley: 11%
Not sure: 36%@Rasmussen_Poll | 2/11-12 | 1,022 LV… pic.twitter.com/xP3iGKsaRi

— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) February 17, 2026

“You can’t get into the race promising to spend $50 million and not see a significant impact, which is exactly what has happened,” Katie Frost, an Atlanta-based Republican political strategist, said to NBC News. “This effort means he thought there was an opening.”

The latest poll, conducted by Emerson College, found him less than 1 percent behind Jones.

“Businessman Rick Jackson’s entry into the race appears to have re-shaped the race, drawing support from voters over 60 (35%) and independent affiliated primary voters (25%), while Burt Jones’ support is highest among men (27%), Republican affiliated primary voters (22%) and has consistent support among age groups,” Emerson executive director Spencer Kimball said in a statement.

If neither Jackson nor Jones wins 50+ percent of the vote in the May 19 primary, they’ll face off again during a June 16 runoff election. Jackson is trying to court MAGA voters through ads introducing himself to them.

“The spots with the most money behind them mostly feature him talking about his experience in his youth in the foster care system, after having fled abusive parents before becoming a business owner,” NBC News notes.

He also frequently compares himself to the president.

“Like President Trump, I don’t owe anybody anything, and like you, I’m sick of career politicians,” he said in one recent ad.

In another ad, he characterized himself as “the straight-talking, Trump-supporting self-made outsider” who “tells it like it is.”

In a third ad, he tears into Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whom President Trump has repeatedly blamed for his 2020 presidential election loss:

#GAGOV news:

Rick Jackson, the newest @GaRepublicans candidate for governor, just announced that he’s running — and he is putting $40+ million in his campaign

His first ad goes hard after Brad Raffensperger, comparing him to Judas pic.twitter.com/ERuQNOqRcP

— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) February 3, 2026

GOP operatives who spoke with NBC News said that Jackson targeting Raffensperger (versus Jones) is part of a strategy to flatter the president while also not ticking him off by attacking his preferred candidate.

“At his campaign launch event, Jackson even descended to the stage in a glass elevator, drawing comparisons to Trump’s escalator entrance to announce his 2016 presidential bid,” NBC News notes.

A lot like another billionaire, Rick Jackson arrives at his rally riding down an glass elevator to launch his campaign for Georgia governor. pic.twitter.com/dx2t38r7Ts

— Patricia Murphy (@MurphyAJC) February 4, 2026

Asked for a comment, Jackson’s campaign spokesperson leaned into the Trump comparison.

“I think Republican primary voters were eager for a businessman and an outsider to enter the race, and Rick Jackson, like President Trump, is a businessman outsider,” they said. “This is their response to that message of being an outsider and fighting.”

Jones’ spokesperson, meanwhile, leaned into Trump’s endorsement.

“Trump-endorsed Lt. Governor Burt Jones is the only common-sense conservative in this race fighting for the issues Georgians care about,” they said. “Georgians have a clear choice — a Trump-endorsed proven workhorse with a record of results, or a bunch of Never-Trump RINOs pretending to be something they’re not.”

The Republican primary battle will also feature Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. Speaking with NBC News, Carr claimed Jackson is a bigger threat to Jones than he is to him.

“It hasn’t changed things for me, but it’s been disruptive and devastating to the lieutenant governor, because they are fighting for the same voter,” he insisted. “The lieutenant governor’s whole pitch was, ’I’m going to have the most money and I’m going to have one endorsement, and that’s all I need.’ Well, that was a flawed argument.”

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