BANKS COUNTY, Ga. — The race for the highest office in Georgia is now set for November’s general election.
Billionaire Rick Jackson won the Republican runoff over Lt. Gov. Burt Jones to advance and face Democratic nominee and former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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Bottoms got out and campaigned in Commerce on Tuesday outside a shuttered hospital, saying more rural hospitals are threatened if Republicans don’t expand Medicaid.
Both camps say they’re ready for an aggressive and expensive campaign.
“I would love to have $100 million just to blow on a political campaign. Absolutely I would. But I’m used to doing a lot with a little,” Bottoms said.
Jackson did spend more than $100 million dollars of his own fortune in the primary. The primary race was an exhausting slugfest, and Jackson seemed ubiquitous on the airwaves.
“Jackson has, as we’ve seen, unlimited resources,” said Dr. Charles Bullock, professor of political science at the University of Georgia.
“She’s [Bottoms] not gonna be able to match Rick Jackson dollar for dollar. So he’s gonna be much more present than she is on television. Probably be able to send out more mail pieces, do more social media,” Bullock said.
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Bullock says Jackson is sure to aggressively target Bottoms’ tenure as mayor of Atlanta, when she declined to run for re-election. It was a term roiled by COVID and sometimes violent unrest after the killing of George Floyd.
In his victory speech Tuesday night, Jackson said her service as mayor is her biggest liability.
“She hopes Georgians forget what happened when she was in charge. I won’t let them,” he said.
Bullock says expect Bottoms to link Jackson to President Donald Trump, his lackluster economy and lagging popularity. He also says Jackson may have a tough time uniting state Republicans after such a punishing campaign against Jones.
“Now you have to turn around and say, ‘Forget all of that, now we have to put forward a united front, and please endorse me,’” Bullock said.
Mims reached out to the Jackson campaign for an interview Wednesday. A spokesman responded that Jackson would not be making an appearances that day.
Bottoms says the vote of each of her supports carries the same weight as a billionaire’s and they need to show up at the polls.
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