Peach State Preview: Rick Jackson Has Met the Moment. Can He Close the Deal With Georgia Voters?

At long last, it is Election Day here in the United States, and voters across the country who didn't participate in early voting will be standing in line at the polls to cast their votes in order to make their voices heard.

Though most of the pre-election hype and focus for the last several months has, understandably, been on key House and Senate races in the battles for control of both, there have been a few gubernatorial races that have been interesting to watch play out as well.

Among them is the one in Georgia, which features Jackson Healthcare CEO and GOP nominee Rick Jackson versus the Democrat nominee, former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

RedState has covered the general election matchup between these two extensively, and how Jackson has, with precision, used Bottoms' one term as mayor against her, pointing to her myriad leadership failures on issues like crime, her gross mismanagement of the COVID pandemic, her coddling of the boycott crowd the year the election reform bill was passed and signed into law, her self-centeredness, and how she opted to abandon Atlantans after she spent four years making their lives harder.

Midterm election years are typically not kind to the party in power, and the headwinds in Georgia so far, at least in terms of polling, have reflected that in some races, like the Senate race between Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Republican Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10). 

But the governor's race has been much different, with neither candidate showing big leads in polling, though Jackson, a relative political outsider who grew up in foster care and who is a self-made businessman, narrowed what gap there was starting in September, and has appeared to have an edge in momentum down the homestretch.

Bottoms, meanwhile, would love not only to be the Peach State's first Democrat governor since Roy Barnes in 2003 but also America's first black female governor, something that would be a feather in her cap as far as Democrats are concerned and something to add to her political resume in the event she ever decided to run for president.

But she'd have to get by Rick Jackson first, which, so far, has proven to be a tall order considering how Jackson not only has defined himself but her:

I couldn’t afford to go to college, but I learned how to work and built a business that employs thousands of Georgians and saves thousands of lives every year. I’m an outsider, but I’ve tangled with politicians in both parties. They talk. I’m about action. With your vote before 7 pm, Georgia, I’ve got this.

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) November 3, 2026

The most basic job a governor has is keeping people safe. Keisha failed, and Georgians paid the price. She does not get a promotion. https://t.co/IjbXqtny9K

— Rick Jackson (@RickJacksonGA) November 3, 2026

Keisha’s all about Keisha https://t.co/yNyqnm3ct4

— Team Jackson (@TeamJacksonHQ) November 3, 2026

If you love and care about Georgia, you need to root and pray for Rick Jackson. He's more than met the moment and has earned the opportunity to lead the state to better days ahead.

Polls close in Georgia at 7 PM ET. RedState will keep you posted on developments.

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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