Rick Jackson, a former healthcare executive, defeated Lt. Gov. Burt Jones in Georgia’s gubernatorial primary runoff Tuesday night, notching an upset over President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate.
The Associated Press called the race at 9:45 p.m. With 85% of ballots counted, Jackson received 52.8% of the vote, while Jones earned 47.3%. Jackson will now face Democratic nominee and former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in November.
Jones entered the race in 2025 as the presumptive front-runner, but Jackson’s surprise campaign launch in February, which he initially seeded with a $50 million investment, upended the primary.
Jackson’s victory over Jones comes despite the current lieutenant governor wielding the endorsements of both Trump and term-limited Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), who backed Jones at the 11th hour. His clinching of the GOP nomination was a test of money against political capital, with Jackson having spent at least $100 million of his own fortune to boost his campaign.
The GOP primary is the most expensive in Georgia’s history.
“When I announced our campaign, I said the political class protects itself, the media protects them, and lobbyists prop up the whole thing to protect their bottom line — It’s a cartel, and I said I’m coming to break it up,” Jackson told the crowd gathered at his victory party. “Well, tonight we shattered it. Like I said then, I’m the only candidate who doesn’t owe a thing to the political establishment.”
“Tonight, we did more than win a runoff,” Jackson continued, “Tonight we proved the people of Georgia are in charge.”
While Jackson came in 2nd place in Georgia’s May 19 primary, where neither he nor Jones secured a majority of the vote, the gubernatorial hopeful was able to use the time between the first primary election and the Tuesday runoff race to boost his support, with recent polling showing the race in a dead heat.
Jones argued to voters that he had prior political experience, whereas Jackson campaigned on his political outsider status. The race between the two men was a bitter contest, with Jones seeking to use Jackson’s campaign spending as a political cudgel.
“Rick Jackson is everywhere – spending over $100 million trying to buy our vote,” said a recent ad from Jones’ campaign. “But Georgia is not for sale.”
Jones also pushed legislation earlier this year that sought to disqualify Jackson’s healthcare company from receiving taxpayer-funded contracts.
The effort, however, stirred controversy, pushing House Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones to endorse Jackson, who told the Associated Press that “Burt is more concerned about things that are self-interested for him and his family, and he uses the power of that position to enhance his financial situation like he’s done in the past.”
Jackson, meanwhile, has been mired in controversy over whether or not he employed illegal immigrants at his mansion. The healthcare executive has made the deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of a crime a cornerstone of his campaign.
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Ultimately, Jackson’s outsider image was enough to push him ahead in the runoff, and the GOP nominee is not turning his attention to Lance Bottoms.
“Now the primary is over, and the general election begins,” Jackson said Tuesday night. “Georgia cannot afford to get this wrong. We face Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta. Keisha Lance Bottoms did such a bad job as mayor, she didn’t even run for reelection, she would be an absolute disaster for Georgia.”
