This week, the GOP candidates for governor went full scorched earth on one another, spending big and using every tool at their disposal – billboards, lawsuits, and eye-popping ad buys – to destroy and out-MAGA each other ahead of the May 19th primary.
Here’s the latest on this messy and chaotic GOP gubernatorial race:
JACKSON INVESTS HEAVILY IN BIG OIL AS GEORGIANS PAY THE PRICE AT THE PUMP: As Georgians pay higher and higher prices at the pump, new reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals that billionaire Rick Jackson is deeply invested in Big Oil, as the average gas price has surged over 25 percent since last month and diesel now stands at more than $5 a gallon – one of the highest rates in the country.
- The AJC reported Thursday that at an event in Blakely, Jackson revealed he was the “largest outside investor” of a newly announced oil refinery in Brownsville, Texas.
- This eyebrow-raising admission was in response to a question about price gouging at the pump – a top concern among Georgians – but rather than offer real solutions, Jackson went on and on about policies that would benefit him and his Big Oil associates.
- Jackson is just another candidate in this messy GOP primary profiting off Georgians’ pain at the pump. Jones is heir to the Jones Petroleum Company, and previous reporting showed that his leadership committee paid at least $103,000 to his family businesses.
REPUBLICAN RIVALS GO SCORCHED EARTH: The GOP candidates are finding new ways to attack each other, with lawsuits, mobile billboards, and websites all adding to the chaos.
- On Monday, Jones launched SlickRickJackson.com, a microsite brimming with attacks on Jackson’s business record. The Jones campaign even directed a mobile billboard to circulate through metro Atlanta in the hopes of drawing viewers to the site.
- Later that day, Jackson announced a 21-page defamation lawsuit against Jones, alleging that he’s running based on “what he knows best: cheap and dirty politics.”
- Jones fired back, accusing Jackson of having “thin skin” and trying to “silence the truth” with his “henchmen lawyers.”
- And Chris Carr further took off the gloves this week, attacking the “candidate quality” of his Republican rivals in an interview with Black Information Network News and insisting none of them can win in a general election.
MAGA SLUGFEST CONTINUES PLAYING OUT ON THE AIRWAVES: This explosive primary got even messier on the airwaves this week as the candidates continued spending big to attack their Republican rivals.
- Jones released two eye-popping ads going after Jones’ business practices, questioning the source of his money and even suggesting that Jackson belonged in jail.
- And in an interview on One America News Network Wednesday, Jones went after his Republican rivals, calling them “Never Trumpers” who “ride Trump’s coattails.” He doubled down on these attacks in a social media post Thursday, calling out Jackson’s previous political donations and insisting that “Slick Rick’s past is catching up to him.”
- Jackson responded by releasing his own series of ads attacking Jones, calling Jones a “stone-cold liar” and using Jones’ previous praise of Jackson against him.
- Chris Carr also placed his first TV ad of the race this week, with Raffensperger set to place his first TV ads in the coming weeks as well – the latest signs of how much this race for governor is heating up.
AS GOP FIELD RACES RIGHT, GEORGIANS SUFFER: Jones, Jackson, Carr, and Raffensperger continued staking out extreme, MAGA positions that are hurting Georgians.
- The candidates have all vocally supported Trump’s budget bill, even as the fallout from this legislation caused the SK Battery plant in Commerce to lay off nearly 1,000 Georgians this week.
- The entire GOP is clearly more interested in listening to Trump than Georgia voters, with Jones putting out yet another ad touting his support from the president and NBC News reporting that Jackson made a trip down to Mar-a-Lago late last month.
- Jackson again reiterated his support for Georgia’s extreme abortion ban this week.
- And as the GOP candidates continue their stalwart support for DC Republicans’ cost-raising and job-killing agenda, WABE reported Monday that Georgia “businesses are hesitant to expand amid rising input costs and tariffs.”
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