From Chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia Charlie Bailey
- Georgia Democrats are All in on 2026
Primary day is less than a month away – and Georgia Democrats are ready to flip the Governor’s Mansion and elect a Democratic governor this fall. With this race now rated as a toss-up by Sabato’s Crystal Ball and named the likeliest to flip to a Democrat in 2026 across the country by National Journal, we are on offense. Today, we are announcing the launch of a new Peach State Gubernatorial War Room – a team of staff exclusively focused on holding Republican candidates accountable by calling out the GOP gubernatorial candidates’ extreme positions at every turn and showcasing how they are not fit to lead Georgia.
Make no mistake: the Democratic Party of Georgia is all in to win the governor’s race – and we have never felt more confident about our chances this November.
- Republicans Are Stuck In the Nastiest, Most Expensive Primary In Modern Georgia History
Republicans are stuck in a nearly $1oo million race to the bottom between two deeply out-of-touch rich guys: Rick Jackson and Burt Jones. Both of them are deeply flawed candidates who are too extreme for Georgia – and they keep showing they are not ready for prime time. Let’s start with Rick Jackson: the billionaire who acts and talks exactly how you’d expect a billionaire to act and talk. Since the start of his campaign, he’s repeatedly made cringe-worthy remarks that evoke yet another failed Georgia wealthy outsider: Kelly Loeffler.
During his brief time on the trail, Jackson has:
- Gloated over paying lower taxes because of the One Big Billionaire Bill, even as this bill has killed Georgia jobs and stripped hundreds of thousands of Georgians of healthcare;
- Bragged about investing in an oil refinery when asked about rising gas prices;
- Boasted about padding his stock portfolio with Trump’s tariffs;
- Has even admitted he doesn’t know anything about agriculture – the state’s largest industry.
Jones is just as out-of-touch, and throughout his years of using public office to enrich his family, the cost of everything from food to fuel to housing has become much more expensive. He has a record of:
- Blocking Medicaid expansion (causing our rural hospitals to close);
- Supporting Trump’s tariff tax increases that have raised costs on working families;
- Backing Donald Trump’s attacks on health care that have caused skyrocketing premiums for 1.4 million Georgians.
As heir to the Jones Petroleum Company, he’s also profiting off Georgians’ pain at the pump – and he’s using his leadership committee to enrich his family’s businesses. This follows a long record of self-dealing that has become a defining issue of the campaign.
Whether it’s Burt using his daddy’s money – or Rick using his money to make Trump his daddy – both of these candidates are grossly out-of-touch with the needs of Georgians. Both Jackson and Jones:
- Strongly support Trump’s Big Billionaire Bill that’s cutting healthcare for hundreds of thousands of Georgians;
- Back the tariff tax increases that have been described as a “gut punch” by Georgia small small business owners;
- Support Georgia’s extreme abortion ban, which threatens health care providers with jail time and often impacts women before they even know they’re pregnant.
- Jackson recently revealed that he would “absolutely confirm” a total abortion ban, and admitted to getting Georgia’s current abortion ban over the finish line;
- Jones also supports a total abortion ban, admitting in a 2022 debate that he does not support exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother.
- And even as the Trump administration has fired federal workers en masse – including CDC employees here in Atlanta – both candidates supported these reckless cuts, and Jones worked overtime to champion a state-level DOGE program that would “complement” Trump’s actions in DC.
Meanwhile, Chris Carr and Brad Raffensperger – who on issue after issue are just as out-of-touch and extreme as the two frontrunners – are struggling to break through.
The only thing Jones and Jackson seem good at is spending money to beat each other up. As many have noted, the Republican gubernatorial primary is one of the nastiest – and certainly the most expensive – in modern Georgia history. It’s all playing out in every Georgian’s living room, and voters cannot unsee the terrible things they have heard about Jackson and Jones once the general election begins. The Republicans are doing our work for us:
- Informing everyone in this state just how much Burt Jones has abused his office to enrich his family (Thank you Georgians for Integrity);
- Jones then took the extremely rare step of highlighting Jackson’s role in jacking up health care costs from the floor of the State Senate last month;
- Jones’ campaign has even put out a new ad accusing Jackson of getting rich off a “Medicare kickback scam targeting Georgia’s seniors.”
It’s abundantly clear that this primary has deeply damaged whoever winds up getting the Republican nomination. Clearly these candidates are wrong for Georgia, and our Peach State Gubernatorial War Room – with the full backing of the Democratic Party of Georgia – will hold them all accountable for their cost-raising, job-killing, health care-gutting records.
- Republicans Are Responsible for Georgia’s Health Care Crisis
The Georgia governor’s race is ground zero for health care – and Democrats are already playing offense on this key issue for voters.
- Georgia is one of only 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid, and the Republican candidates all have long records opposing Medicaid expansion.
- The result is that hundreds of thousands of Georgians lack access to affordable care and nine rural hospitals have closed their doors all across our state since 2010. Governor Kemp’s Pathways program has been a complete and total failure – and only made more clear the need for Medicaid expansion.
Now, Trump’s Big Billionaire Bill– with the full backing of all the Republican candidates – has made the situation drastically worse and made health care a major issue for Georgians:
- Many Georgians are seeing their average premiums skyrocketing by more than $860 a month.
- Since December, Georgia has already lost 190,000 ACA enrollees – which is expected to keep growing as Georgians face extreme price hikes on their premiums.
- St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in rural northeast Georgia was forced to close its labor and delivery unit, citing cuts to Medicaid as what “solidified” their decision to shutter the critical unit.
- All of the candidates also back far-fight policies like Georgia’s extreme six-week abortion ban that has contributed to a maternal mortality crisis sweeping our state, and which bans abortion before many women even know they are pregnant
- Hospitals across Georgia are now struggling with budget gaps, such as Evans Memorial Hospital in rural Claxton, which is confronting a potential $3.3 million shortfall tied to the legislation.
This isn’t a record you run on – it’s a record you run away from. But it’s a flashing warning sign that all of these candidates are out-of-of-touch with Georgia – and unwilling to listen to people across our state who are being hurt by the harmful policies coming out of Washington.
- Democrats Have the Momentum
Georgia Democrats clearly have the momentum in this race. We have a very strong field of candidates running for governor, and the last time there was an open seat for our state’s top office, it was the closest election in well over 40 years. Combine that with a recent string of upset victories in several races, we’re confident that this will translate into a Democratic victory.
Look no further than the last few months for evidence of our growing momentum:
- The Public Service Commissioner races in November 2025 were the first non-federal statewide victory for Georgia Democrats since 2006. Democrats showed that by focusing on the Republican betrayal of working people, we can win voters all across the state – and indeed, all but 2 of Georgia’s 159 counties trended blue in those elections.
- Georgia Democrats also recently won an upset victory in a special election for a Georgia House seat that voted for Trump by roughly 12 points.
- We’ve also seen stunning overperformances in elections like the race to replace MTG in CD-14 – the most Republican congressional district across Georgia – with Democrat Shawn Harris overperforming by 25 points.
- Conclusion
While the leading Republican candidates spend nearly $100 million telling Georgians just how extreme and out-of-touch they are, Georgia Democrats will continue to focus on kitchen-table issues like lowering costs, creating good-paying jobs, expanding access to health care, and protecting our fundamental freedoms. We clearly have momentum on our side, and Georgia Democrats are clear-eyed in our commitment to elect a governor who will actually work to make life better – and more affordable – for the people of Georgia. Whoever emerges from our primary will be a strong nominee – and with our Peach State Gubernatorial War Room, the full backing of the Democratic Party of Georgia, and the support of the people of this great state, our nominee will be in a strong position to reclaim the Governor’s Mansion.