Georgia businessman Rick Jackson announces run for governor

Georgia businessman Rick Jackson is entering the race for governor, pitching himself as a conservative outsider shaped by hardship who says his life story proves results matter more than politics.

In a Facebook post announcing his run, Jackson described growing up in poverty, moving through five foster homes and living in Atlanta's Techwood Homes projects. He said he was called "white trash" as a child and never knew his father, while his mother struggled with alcoholism. Jackson said those experiences pushed him to work hard, lean on his Christian faith and build a life focused on responsibility and action.

"I learned to work hard, trusted in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, started a family, and founded a business," Jackson wrote. "Today I employ thousands of Georgians, taking care of people and protecting America's antibiotic supply. I'm running for governor now to deliver the results that do-nothing politicians never will."

According to his campaign page, Jackson moved through 13 schools while in foster care before taking a straight-commission sales job after he could no longer afford college. He later bought the company he worked for, a decision he describes as betting on himself.

Today, Jackson says his businesses operate in all 50 states, help provide care to more than 20 million patients each year and generate more than $3 billion in annual revenue. He says his companies play a role in protecting the nation's antibiotic supply, a point he often highlights as evidence of his focus on practical results.

Jackson is running as a political outsider, stating that Georgia needs leadership driven by action rather than what he calls empty rhetoric. His campaign priorities include making Georgia what he describes as "the most affordable state in America," with proposals to freeze property taxes, cut the state income tax in half within four years, and work to eliminate it within eight.

Other priorities listed by his campaign include supporting law enforcement, protecting children, fighting illegal immigration, opposing what he calls "woke ideology," and supporting children in foster care, an issue Jackson says is deeply personal given his own childhood.

Jackson frames his candidacy as a contrast with career politicians, saying his background in business and philanthropy gives him the experience needed to deliver measurable results for Georgia families.