How It's Done: Rick Jackson Surges Ahead As Keisha Lance Bottoms Flails in Georgia Gov’s Race

As the battles for the House and Senate rage on, the Georgia governor's race continues apace with less than a month to go before Election Day.

Jackson Healthcare founder Rick Jackson, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, is facing off against the Democrat nominee, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, in a state that has had a long history of Democrat governors but hasn't had one since 2003, when Roy Barnes was serving out his last days in office after being beaten in the 2002 election by Sonny Perdue.

Obviously, Bottoms would like to reverse course on that trend and, in the process, have the Democrat bragging rights of being the first black governor in Peach State history.

But the odds are increasingly against her, as Jackson, a political newcomer, has gone from narrowing the gap in the polls to surging ahead in the final weeks of the campaign. 

Rick Jackson has surged ahead of Keisha Lance Bottoms in the Georgia governor's race. #GAgov https://t.co/iwxZZygANb https://t.co/2JogycKA1E

— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) October 6, 2026

As we've reported, Jackson has done this primarily by being relentless with his reminders about what Atlanta, the state's capital city, was like under Bottoms' disastrous leadership, on issues like crime and the economy. He's talked about it on the campaign trail and in ads, where no lies were detected because what he's saying is the straight-up truth: Bottoms was bad news for Atlanta - and she'll be the same way for Georgia if she wins in November:

Georgia, we don't have to live like this. https://t.co/4YloEEG6Ze

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) September 21, 2026

Keisha ended cash bail, gutted the corrections budget, let Atlanta burn, and unleashed a crime wave. Then she walked away. https://t.co/MnlremCkE1

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) September 9, 2026

And as Bottoms has tried to squirm out of her abysmal record by playing word games, Jackson has responded accordingly:

Keisha truly doesn’t understand, or isn’t willing to admit she understands, what she put Atlanta through. 

I grew up in projects like the ones she abandoned, so it’s personal to me. But I also know a thing or two about leadership. 

Leaders don’t blame their staff, which Keisha did in another recent interview. Leaders don’t write off businesses hurt, properties damaged, and lives ruined or lost as “a police car, a Wendy’s, and a dumpster.” 

Real leaders don’t care about who gets the credit when things are going well - and they don’t pass the buck when things go poorly. Real leaders own their failures and learn from them. 

Keisha’s spent a career in politics, but she’s learned neither of those lessons. 

She has absolutely no business being Georgia’s governor.

Keisha truly doesn’t understand, or isn’t willing to admit she understands, what she put Atlanta through. I grew up in projects like the ones she abandoned, so it’s personal to me. But I also know a thing or two about leadership. Leaders don’t blame their staff, which Keisha did in another recent interview. Leaders don’t write off businesses hurt, properties damaged, and lives ruined or lost as “a police car, a Wendy’s, and a dumpster.” Real leaders don’t care about who gets the credit when things are going well - and they don’t pass the buck when things go poorly. Real leaders own their failures and learn from them. Keisha’s spent a career in politics, but she’s learned neither of those lessons. She has absolutely no business being Georgia’s governor.

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) October 6, 2026

At one recent campaign event, Jackson shared perhaps the most compelling closing message of all: "The governor's office is not an audition for the next title. It is more than a job. It is a solemn obligation to the people of this state and a commitment that I will honor with everything that I have," he observed.

"Holding office should be about public service, not self-service," qualities he stressed that Bottoms does not possess:

Holding office is about public service, not self-service. Keisha Lance Bottoms got that backwards when she was Atlanta’s mayor. https://t.co/wuVWe3cYFI

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) October 6, 2026

This race, of course, isn't over, and anything could happen, but the momentum has shifted to Jackson, and he is capitalizing on it. 

Keisha Lance Bottoms is running for office to serve the interests of Keisha Lance Bottoms. Rick Jackson is running for office to serve the interests of Georgians. Huge difference, and he's demonstrating every day just how big - and important - those differences are.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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