This week, the GOP “bare-kunckled fight” for governor further devolved into chaos as Burt Jones and Rick Jackson waged an all-out war over the end of legislative session – with Jones even championing a bill that would have disqualified his Republican rival – and the candidates continued spending big to destroy each other ahead of the fast-approaching May 19 primary.
Here’s more on this raucous GOP race to the right:
JONES, JACKSON SPAR AS LEGISLATIVE SESSION WRAPS UP: As legislative session drew to a close, Jones and Jackson frantically attacked one another, with the AJC reporting Monday that this “race is bleeding into the legislative process in unusually public ways.”
- On Thursday, the State Senate passed a bill led by Jones’ allies that would either force Jackson to give up his state contracts or disqualify him from this race, with the AJC reporting Thursday that this bill “underscores the lengths Jones and his allies are willing to go to hobble Jackson’s insurgent bid for governor.”
- This comes as Jones and his campaign have regularly attacked Jackson’s business dealings, with Jones’ spokesperson saying that “The self-proclaimed outsider is actually a Liz Cheney-supporting insider who pocketed over $930 million in taxpayer dollars. No amount of money can hide the truth about Rick Jackson.”
- Jackson’s campaign fired back, writing that “[Jones] is using his last day running the Georgia Senate to promote himself and target a political opponent.”
- Jackson also accused Jones of holding up bills in the State Senate for his own political advantage, saying that Jones was putting out “absolute lies” and that “[Jones] and his minions aren’t just blocking good bills – they’re outright threatening people.”
OUT-OF-TOUCH GOP FIELD SPENDS RECORD BREAKING SUMS ATTACKING EACH OTHER: New reporting Thursday shined a light on just how out-of-touch the GOP candidates for governor really are, with Jones and Jackson spending their vast personal fortunes to brutally attack one another.
- The AJC revealed Jackson is worth over $3 billion, reporting that “[the] health care staffing tycoon’s fortune is so large that it doesn’t fit on Georgia’s financial disclosure form,” while Jones, Carr, Raffensperger are all worth over $100 million combined.
- Jones and Jackson have spent big attacking each other, with the AJC reporting that a whopping approximately $88 million has been spent or reserved by Republicans – including $19 million from dark money group Georgians for Integrity that has spent months brutally attacking Jones – which “[shatters] state records for a gubernatorial primary.”
- And Carr has made attacking his GOP opponents’ wealth a central pitch of his campaign, launching an ad this week attacking both Jones and Jackson with the question: “Aren’t you tired of rich guys spending their money on negative political ads?”
THE NEVER-ENDING NASTY ONLINE FEUD DOMINATING THIS GOP RACE: The GOP candidates can’t seem to stop attacking each other online, and the nasty internet feuds heated up this week with a series of new videos, memes, and a whole lot of mean tweets.
- Jackson put out several videos this week viciously going after Jones, with one accusing his opponent of “selling out Georgia’s kids to make a buck.” Jackson also meme-ified this nasty race, using a clip from a recent Braves-Royals game to mock Jones.
- Jackson also accused Jones of having a “meltdown,” with his campaign writing Saturday that “Burt’s mad that he’s losing, he’s spiraling, and he’s lashing out.”
- Jones fired back at these attacks, posting a clip from a recent interview with Brian Kilmeade in which he labeled Jackson “not very honest” and “a longtime Never-Trumper,” and Jones’ campaign posted a video saying that “Georgians can spot a fraud from a mile away.”
GOP CANDIDATES WORK OVERTIME TO OUT-MAGA OPPONENTS: The GOP field raced even further to the right in yet another week of desperate attempts to out-MAGA each other.
- In a Monday interview with Real America’s Voice, Jones doubled down on his strong support for Trump’s FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections Hub, writing that “Fulton County couldn’t run a bake sale, let alone our elections.”
- Jones also used the opportunity to attack his GOP rival Raffensperger, saying that “our do-nothing Secretary of State continues to fail the people of this state.”
- And one year since Trump’s harmful “Liberation Day” tariffs, every single Republican running for governor continues to strongly support these cost-raising measures – including Rick Jackson, who boasted about profiting off these policies – even as Georgians have footed $7.1 billion of the bill — one of the highest totals in the country.
###