It’s official, the 2026 campaign season is underway, and the candidates are hitting the trail.
The race for Georgia’s governorship has been heating up, with eyes on the rivalry between Republican poll leaders Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and businessman and self-described “outsider” Rick Jackson.
Jones made a campaign stop in Waycross last week, visiting the Waycross Family Justice. The candidate and his wife, Jan, received a tour of the facility by Magnolia House Executive Director Michelle Girtman, who showed and explained the facility’s rooms and features.
After the tour, Jones addressed those attending the event.
“Something like this concept right here really fits, I think, in rural communities,” Jones said. “One of the issues I thought was pretty neglected at the state level, was basically children and family services.”
Jones went on to tout his record on DFACS and adjacent issues, including the creation of a Children and Families committee.
“We made it a point to put good folks on it,” he said.
Jones also spoke about the extension of the school choice Promise Scholarship to foster families.
After Jones concluded his speech, Republican Sen. Russ Goodman, who represents this area, spoke on behalf of Jones. Goodman was very critical of the attacks levied at Jones by his opponents.
“Y’all are probably seeing a lot of stuff in the mailbox, and I want to speak to that,” he said, “because it’s some of the vilest stuff I’ve ever seen. I’m here to tell you it’s nothing but lies. May God strike me down right now where I stand if that stuff ain’t a bunch of lies.”
Goodman also made a point to mention Jones as “the only person running for governor who’s not from Atlanta.”
James Burchett, a Republican who represents the area in the Georgia House, also was present at the event, commending Jones for his service and aid. He also spoke out against antagonistic ads against Jones, defending his character.
“The fact of the matter is, this man here has stood in the gap for all of us,” Burchett said. “He’s been consistent, he’s been conservative, and he’s been a leader in this state.”
Others seeking the Republican nomination are Attorney General Chris Carr, Clark Dean, Gregg Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Tom Williams and Ken Yasger. On the Democrat ticket are Keisha Bottoms, Olu Brown, Amanda Duffy, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Derrick Jackson and Michael Thurmond.
Following the event, Jones briefly spoke with the Waycross Journal-Herald.
With opponent attacks mentioned several times during the event, Jones was asked about recent lawsuits filed against him by Rick Jackson. Jackson has filed two lawsuits against the Jones campaign: a defamation suit filed in March, and a previous suit filed in February pertaining to campaign finances.
That suit alleged Jones benefitted from a 2021 law that allows him to chair a leadership committee to raise and spend unlimited campaign contributions.
“We actually ended up winning that on appeal,” Jones said. He chuckled, adding, “But he and everybody else that’s running against me have sued me!”
Jones also reiterated his record with DFACS and related issues, along with his commitment to law enforcement.
“Everywhere from the juvenile justice system, to DFACS and foster care system, those are issues that need to be tackled,” Jones said. “If we don’t combine resources to educate children, to keep them on the straight and narrow... that ought to be one of our main responsibilities as elected officials.”
One of the planks of Jones’ campaign platform is a focus on income and property taxes. Jones touted the reduction in income taxes: “We lowered it four years in a row this past year, that’s happened since I’ve been Lieutenant Governor. I plan on us getting to zero.”
Jones also mentioned capping property taxes “for the first time ever.” Following this, he was asked for his response to a recent op-ed published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution by Carr, that argued the opposite. The article, which can also be read on Carr’s campaign website, makes reference to Georgia House Bill 1116, which included a three percent cap on property tax increases.
The article says the bill “would have put a meaningful check on rising property taxes” while arguing Jones “led the Senate in rejecting that approach,” passing a weakened version.
Goodman spoke in defense of the measures taken in the bill, as it wouldn’t “fit for the whole state”, and would have negatively impacted some small constituencies. Jones responded that he had not read the article.
“I don’t know what the AG wrote,” Jones said, “I’m sure he had some smart-alec comment about what we did. But let me tell you something, what was being proposed by the House would have hurt more rural communities than it would have helped, and what we did was make it a cap across the board, which makes it simple to understand, and makes it simple to implement as well.”
Jones added that more would be done in the future on property taxes.
With such heated competition between the two, Jones and Jackson both agreed to a debate earlier this month. Jones expressed his confidence: “I’m the one that offered the debate, he’s the one that won’t show up for anything... I’d like for just the two of us to get on stage and get those other guys out of the way.”
He concluded with a parting jab at Jackson: “He likes making his case with mailers and TV ads, tries to make him look like something he’s not. But he doesn’t want to show up to any place I go to.”
The debates for all upcoming Georgia state races will be televised on Georgia Public Broadcasting April 26-28.
Jones greeted members of the Family Justice Center staff as part of his recent stop. Photo by ETHAN REDDISH
