Out For Themselves: Jones and Jackson Enter General Election with Major Baggage

Out For Themselves: Jones and Jackson Enter General Election with Major Baggage

Introduction: The Democratic Governors Association is ready to take on and defeat whichever out-of-touch, out-for-themselves politician comes out of Georgia’s Republican primary – the most expensive and messiest in the state’s modern history. No matter who the nominee is, the choice for Georgians is clear: Burt Jones and Rick Jackson are running to enrich themselves and will refuse to fight for Georgians facing rising costs and threats to their health care. In stark contrast to the Republican field, Keisha Lance Bottoms will focus on bringing down costs, expanding Medicaid, and investing in education.

Both Candidates Are Looking Out for Themselves – Not Georgia: Over the course of the past four months, Burt Jones and Rick Jackson have spent tens of millions of dollars on 18 different ads accusing each other of self-enrichment, corruption, self-dealing, and abusing taxpayer money. The ads are devastating – and could easily be aired in a general election. The paid media campaigns have detailed both candidates’ records of looking out for themselves, and their businesses, and their families – and not Georgia. During this primary, Republicans did our work for us by making the case against each other. A few scandals stick out:

• Jones has been accused of changing state law while in the Georgia Senate to allow his family’s business to develop a massive data center project. Watch the ads here.
• Jones has been accused of killing the bills of Republicans who endorsed his opponents in the past legislative session. Attorney General Chris Carr has said Jones should be under investigation for his actions. Watch the ad here.
• Jackson has faced scrutiny for enriching himself on no-bid state contracts, making over a billion dollars from state agencies that exist to serve Georgians – which would pose significant conflicts of interest if he were ever elected governor. Watch the ad here. 
• Jackson has also faced accusations from Burt Jones of defrauding seniors by scamming Medicare through his billion-dollar health care company. Watch the ad here.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous other ads where Jackson and Jones hit each other on the corruption theme – and even a microsite.

Jones and Jackson Are Out-of-Touch: Jones and Jackson haven’t just abused public office and taxpayer dollars to enrich themselves – they’ve done so while supporting many of the policies that are raising costs on Georgians. Jackson has admitted to lining his pockets with Trump’s tariffs, even as these cost-raising policies took money directly out of Georgians’ pockets. He has said he supports Trump’s budget law because it lowered his own taxes by 40 percent. And when asked about high gas prices, he bragged about owning an oil refinery. Meanwhile, Jones (like Jackson) opposes suspending the gas tax to give Georgians relief at the pump. He also rallied with Donald Trump in Rome, Georgia, earlier this year when the president celebrated his cost-raising tariffs and dismissed concerns about affordability.

Conclusion: Keisha’s Head Start: No matter who wins the Republican nomination, they are going to enter this race with a lot of baggage – including long records of enriching themselves at the public’s expense and opposing popular policies that will lower costs and expand access to health care. Keisha Lance Bottoms, meanwhile, has spent this runoff talking about her commitment to making Georgia more affordable and expanding Medicaid – and telling her story on air. The Democratic Governors Association is all in for Keisha Lance Bottoms, and we look forward to contrasting her record of fighting for hardworking Georgians with the out-of-touch, out-for-himself Republican nominee.